Heartstrings
by esmecarter92
Summary: Christian Grey's dying mother has just one wish – to see her bachelor son find love before she dies. Ana Steele is his personal assistant, friend, and the only willing candidate for a pretend engagement which might have to get a little more realistic when his mother takes a turn for the better and is eagerly awaiting a wedding…
1. Chapter 1

Monday mornings were Anastasia Steele's favourite part of the week. She wondered if she was the only person in the country who thought that. She was certainly the only one in the building that did, but that was because she had the best job. Well, for at least two hours on a Monday morning she did.

Ana always stopped at the Starbucks across the street from their huge building at about ten to seven – the only day she was committed to getting good coffee and not the rubbish stuff from the cafeteria, usually barely making it to her desk on the top floor thirty seconds before seven, giving herself a full two hours before her shift officially started. She didn't knock before she entered the office behind a frosted glass door – it was hard enough carrying two coffees and she was expected anyway.

She'd smile at her boss, always already sitting at the desk. It had taken several weeks of this routine before he'd started smiling at her too after she'd complained once half-joking that he never seemed pleased to see her.

Christian Grey was much too attractive to be in charge of anything, Ana was sure about that – although since he was her friend she tried not to think too much about that. She always felt sorry for the women who announced to her that they had a meeting with him who asked what he was like, meaning they'd never met him before. They might have seen pictures but none of them were ever prepared to meet him in person. She wondered often if any of them managed to get words out for the first few minutes of their meeting or if they just let him talk while they attempted to compose themselves. Of course, having a good looking boss didn't hurt – apart from when he wore a particularly nice, well-fitting shirt and walked past her desk and ruined her productivity temporarily.

"You didn't knock." Christian would say as she entered every week without fail. Most of the time she'd roll her eyes at that, sometimes she'd apologise not meaning a word, occasionally she'd assure him that she would next week even though they both knew she had no intention of bothering to. She'd struggle to shut the door while keeping the coffees upright and every time he'd get up to take the drinks off her while she swung a foot aimlessly behind her, trying to catch the door and push it back. "You'll put your foot through the glass, Ana." She'd smile half apologetically and take her coffee from him and perch herself on one of the comfy chairs. "Tell me about your weekend then, Ana." Christian would say and she'd grin before she launched into an overly comprehensive account of Kate's latest drama which she had to say he kept up with exceptionally well. This week there was even more than usual – Jackson was back which meant Ana had received two drunk phone calls and four where Kate sobbed for more of the conversation than she spoke for.

"Wait, I'm lost. Which boyfriend of Kate's is Jackson again?" Christian asked.

"No, he's the one that's not her boyfriend, she was just seeing him casually for a while before she got back together with Matt but now he's obsessed with her." Christian nodded and motioned for her to continue her account. Considering he'd never met anyone involved, he always seemed genuinely interested.

She wasn't sure when they'd stopped having an entirely professional relationship and transcended into friendship. She remembered coming in early a few times and getting sidetracked having actual conversations with him as opposed to just telling him when his meetings were that day and asking if he wanted lunch ordered, becoming a weekly thing with neither of them acknowledging it before she'd teased him once about his only friend being paperwork and he'd replied 'that and you'. She'd tried not to let it show how pleased she was that he said that.

When the clock reached eight they switched over, Ana usually remarked on whether she had enjoyed her coffee or not too – she made a point of trying different types even though they were usually horrible and she lamented that she should have just made herself a cup of tea instead.

"Chai Latte is going on the never again list."

"Just drink black coffee, it's much better." Christian told her with a shake of his head. "Do you even know what chai is?"

"No actually." Ana took out her phone and typed it into google. "Oh no wonder I thought it tasted odd, it's not even coffee, chai's just another word for tea. Oh well, maybe I'll try it again, I might like it now I know it's tea. It was the absence of coffee taste that threw me." Ana could tell he was trying not to smile as he shook his head in exasperation at her. "How are things with you then?"

There were three topics Christian would speak to her about. One was the upcoming week – this happened if he was feeling particularly professional or had nothing else to tell her about. It was also the subject he was most comfortable talking to her about – their working relationship had stopped feeling strictly boss and employee quite a while ago when they'd first become actual friends but in the end she did still work for him. The second subject she enjoyed the most was anecdotes from the previous week, usually including various odd characters he'd had meetings with. The last and rarest subject was his family – she knew his mother was quite ill and that it had been difficult for him recently. It suited her fine because she didn't like talking about hers much either.

They knew it was nine because the phone system switched itself on, not allowing them to overrun because it usually started ringing instantly with people eager to get a hold of Christian after the weekend.

"When you've answered that, could I get another coffee please?"

"Of course, you don't have to ask my permission to get yourself a coffee!" Ana said sweetly which resulted in a glare she'd long since realised didn't actually mean he was annoyed with her. "I'll bring it straight up."

"Better."

She refrained from rolling her eyes; it was after all business hours now and a certainly level of professionalism had to be added into their interactions, less for their peace of mind and more just because other people around the building didn't know they were friends. Might spark a little resentment towards her, especially from the female employees who were always looking for a way into his good books.

After a long day of digitising files from a new company which had been absorbed into theirs, Ana left the office and dashed home to get changed. It was her best friend Kate's birthday the next day and even though it was a Monday Kate was insisting on having dinner that day because it was the closest to her birthday – on her actual birthday she was having dinner with family and, providing they were still together in two days, she was having dinner with Matt on Wednesday.

Once Kate was done filling her in on all her drama – and Ana was always amazed on just how much drama Kate always managed to find herself in in the short time frames between when Ana spoke to her – she asked Ana about her day which was just an excuse for Kate to look up pictures of Christian on her phone and embarrass Ana gawking over how attractive he was.

"So, when are you going to sleep with him?"

"Kate!" Ana squealed, turning bright red, fidgeting awkwardly in her seat. "He's my boss!"

"So what? You can't deny you've had a huge crush on him from the minute you started working there. Every woman that works there has had a huge crush on him since they started working there, and some of the men too! You can't deny being one of them."

"I can, because I don't. Besides, we're friends now so that's way off the table."

"Wrong! Being friends is an in to sleeping with him, you segue between them. Boss, definitely too difficult to make the leap, well, for you anyway. One morning you walk in to your little coffee meeting with no coffee a low cut top and start taking your clothes off."

"I think that's how you get sectioned, not how you seduce somebody. Besides, I don't even want to. He's attractive but he's not my type."

"Liar, that man is everyone's type."

"Can we please talk about something else, Kate, because I'm barely going to be able to look him in the eye tomorrow at this rate?" Ana said, wrapping a strand of hair around her finger, a tell that the conversation was making her genuinely uncomfortable. Kate smiled apologetically and thought for a moment about what to change the conversation to before her eyes widened and her voice lowered so she wouldn't be heard.

"Ana, I know we're supposed to change the subject but just so you're up to speed he just walked in with a really cute girl." Ana felt a lump in her throat and tried not to show that as she discreetly turned her head a little to check if Kate was relaying the correct information. She breathed an unperceivable sigh of relief when she saw him and the girl he was with.

"That's just Mia, she's his younger sister."

"Aww, were you worried, Ana?" Kate teased her, grinning. Ana rolled her eyes while her internal monologue screamed at her to keep a straighter face and give less away. "They're going to walk right past us, Ana." Ana's face suddenly fell, she'd been hoping they might be able to slip out quickly without being noticed. "Oh my god, I can't believe how hot he is in person. How do you get any work done? I wish my boss looked like that."

"Kate, please be quiet." Ana begged, flashing her a slightly desperate look across the table. Kate's gloating expression softened and she nodded. In lieu of pretending to be half way through a conversation in an attempt to act natural, Ana picked up her wine glass and took a small sip.

"Miss Steele, what a pleasant surprise to see you here." Lord, why hadn't he just walked past? Why had he stopped to speak to her? Oh right, that's what friends are meant to do. Ana didn't know whether to greet him or kick Kate under the table who was looking him up and down like a lion surveying prey.

He hadn't actually called her 'Miss Steele' since her first week, after which she had told him 'call me Ana' which he had misheard, resulting in her being called 'Annie' for two months and being too awkward to correct him. It had only been noticed because he'd heard a colleague call her Ana and found it hysterical that she was so worried about correcting him.

"It's Kate's birthday." Ana blurted out, gesticulating towards Kate as though he might have some trouble identifying who she was even though it was just the two of them sat at the table, answering a question that she was suddenly aware she hadn't been asked. "Not today, tomorrow, but, uh, she'd got family coming tomorrow so we're out tonight." Christian smiled reassuringly at her. She'd told him enough stories about her more awkward and clumsy moments that surely he would have expected an interaction like this?

"I can't stop for long, I see my parents are already at our table." Ana was relieved; the discussion felt like it had been going on for several hours now despite neither of them saying anything much.

"Enjoy your meal." Kate piped up just as Ana was about to say something similar, making her look even more socially inept by comparison.

"Enjoy your birthday." Christian said politely to Kate in response.

"Thank you so much." Kate smiled at him in the way that showed off how full her lips were and Ana noted that she'd lowered her voice the way she did when she was trying to chat someone up. Ana could have melted from embarrassment. A quick look up at Christian confirmed he was trying not to laugh; at least if he was finding it comical her job probably wasn't at risk.

"I'll see you tomorrow." In favour of tripping over another sentence, Ana just nodded in response to what he said and looked down at the table when he walked away, aware but unwilling to acknowledge that Kate was checking him out from behind as he walked away.

"I'm finding a new best friend first thing tomorrow." Ana told Kate when she'd finally built herself up enough to look up again.

"What did I do?"

The rest of dinner passed without a hitch; much to Ana's relief Christian and his family were sat fairly close but she'd discovered if she kept her head tilted a certain way then she couldn't see them and the resulting ache in her neck was probably going to be worth it.

"Have a good birthday, I'll call you tomorrow so you can vent about spending time with your mother." Ana assured Kate as they left which resulted in Kate flinging her arms around her friend and grinning before she hailed a cab over to them. "You take this one."

"You're such a good friend." Kate said with a smile that said she would have taken it even if Ana hadn't offered.

"You're a terrible one."

"Yeah, have fun at work tomorrow!" Ana groaned audibly and Kate laughed and blew her a kiss before she got into her cab, waving to Ana as it drove off.

"Ana?" She turned around and saw Christian behind her. She felt less much less awkward being approached this time, for one thing they were both on the same level and she felt a little less blocked in than she had sat down while he stood over her and for another, Kate, whose behaviour she had been so conscious of earlier, had mercifully already left.

"So I'm back to Ana again now, am I?" she teased him, praising herself inwardly for managing to be so much more casual in her speech than she had managed earlier.

"Yes, sorry for the formality earlier, I just thought you might not want your friend to think your boss was being overly friendly." It was quite rare at this point that he would refer to himself as her boss and she thought from his expression that he regretted saying it as soon as it left his lips. "I mean, I didn't know if you'd told her we were as friendly as we are." She could almost feel his relief at finding a slightly better way of putting it.

"It's fine. I'm sorry for being so awkward, it's just Kate has absolutely no filter and I was anxious she was going to say something stupid and it just spiralled out of control into me being…"

"Extremely awkward?"

"Exactly." They both laughed which relieved the last of the tension between them. "I don't mean to be rude but, uh, why did you come out here, were you looking for me or…?"

"You left your phone on your table, I thought I'd see if I could catch you before you left." He pulled it out of his pocket and she took it gratefully and slipped it into her purse. "And I needed to get some air, told my family I needed a cigarette."

"I didn't know you smoked. When did you start?" She tried not to sound overly concerned. In all the time she'd worked for him, Ana was sure she'd never seen him take a smoke break.

"I didn't. It's just a good excuse to have when you need a minute to yourself." Ana nodded understandingly.

"Family stuff?" she asked, attempting to be as vague as possible with the question so he wouldn't feel compelled to give her details.

"Family stuff." he said with a nod. Ana looked at him sympathetically, not wanting to say anything, worried she'd make it even worse if she did. "Look, I know we have our chats on Mondays but if you don't mind, I'd really appreciate if we could talk tomorrow. I could really use a friend right now." Ana's lips parted a little as she nodded in agreement.

"Yeah of course I will." He looked relieved that she had agreed and she smiled at him softly. "You gonna be okay tonight, though?"

"Don't worry about me."

"I'll try not to." A cab pulled up to the street and Ana looked to Christian apologetically. "I'm gonna go grab that, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Goodbye, Ana."

Ana gave the driver her address and tried not to make it look to obvious that she was glancing out of the window back to Christian who pushed his hair back from his face and visibly sighed before walking back into the restaurant.


	2. Chapter 2

Ana spent most of the night wondering what kind of baked goods said 'I'm sorry you're upset, I'm honoured you think I'm a good enough friend to share your problems with'. She was up at four am with only a few hours of sleep attempting not to burn gingerbread, assuring herself that November wasn't too early at all for gingerbread and even if it was seasonally inappropriate it was going to be delicious, once she remembered how to work her own oven.

Once her third batch of gingerbread had come out acceptably well and not blackened around the edges, Ana entered her bedroom to figure out what to wear. She dressed, with Kate's help, a lot better than she had done in high school. Being the personal assistant to a high-profile CEO came with an expectation that frumpy cardigans and off-white shirts would be relegated firmly to the back of the wardrobe apart from if they were necessary for a particularly ugly Halloween costume. Mostly she wore dark coloured blouses that she still raised her eyebrows to the price tag of and pencil skirts. She was teased by a few people around the office for not having upgraded her slip on pumps to anything with a hell higher than an inch yet but she was getting there.

She selected a dark blue blouse – blue was a calming colour, right? Maybe not if it was this dark though? Could she call Kate and ask or was six am too early for that kind of advice? Probably too early; since Kate had gone freelance with her journalism she rarely bothered getting up before noon, claiming all the best stories happened in the afternoon anyway. Since she always seemed to have the best stories, Ana had to assume she was right about that.

Ana changed the blue blouse for a pink one before shutting the wardrobe door firmly.

"You're way overthinking this." Ana said to herself in the mirror, shaking her head as she brushed her hair and applied the most minimal amount of make-up she could whilst masking how few hours she'd slept for. Hair up or down? It didn't look too bushy today – definitely keep it down. At least then she could play with it if she was feeling uncomfortable.

Picking up coffee was even more difficult than usual carrying a box of the gingerbread she'd baked.

"This was such a stupid idea." she sighed to herself, looking at the box. Maybe she'd hide them under her desk. No, then she'd just spend the entire day eating them, better being teased for baking than having to spend the rest of the week eating like a rabbit to offset the sugar.

Ana looked at the clock above her desk – fifteen minutes early? She'd never been that early for anything in her entire life. Christian wasn't even there yet.

"You're early. You should have just let yourself in." Christian said, taking one coffee from her desk and walking over to unlock his office. He held the door open for her and shut it behind them with a lot more ease than she ever had.

"I don't have a key – it's your office."

"You're my personal assistant, Ana, you should have a key."

"I've never needed one, you're here nearly twenty four hours a day, you have all your meetings in here, I think this is the first time I've ever been in this building when you weren't already here." Ana made her way to one of the nice seats and took a sip of her drink. "I was right, chai latte is much better now I know it's tea."

"What's in the box?" Christian asked, nodding towards the Tupperware she'd placed next to her.

"Oh, that? I made some gingerbread." Christian motioned for her to pass it over.

"Did you make these for me?" Christian asked, looking almost amused. Ana nodded in response. "I didn't know you knew how to use your oven." He opened the box and took a bite out of one of them. "These are actually really good, Ana." She blushed, extremely relieved he seemed to like them. "It's really sweet that you did this." She bit her lip softly.

"I didn't really know how to work it before, but I worked it out eventually. I wanted to do something nice for you."

"Fuck, you must have been up so late doing all this."

"No, I made them when I got up, I wasn't sleeping very well last night." she admitted.

"Be honest with me – was it because you knew I wanted to speak to you this morning?"

"I was just a bit worried about you."

"You don't need to be worried, Ana, I'm okay. It's just Mom, she's got a lot worse over the last few weeks and there's all this shit with Mia going on and you're the only person I have to talk to outside the family."

"Okay." Ana said, trying to make her voice as calm as possible. "Shall we start with your Mom?" He nodded.

"Well, she was sick for a while with ovarian cancer a few years ago, went into remission, then it turned out it had spread and just started getting completely unable for them to control it – I've told you all that part, right?" Ana nodded – never quite like that but she'd put the pieces together on her own. "Last night she told us all she'd been to see the doctor recently and while they've advised she continues with her chemotherapy, they've pretty much said she's not going to survive more than about three months."

"That's so awful. I'm sorry your family has to go through that." He smiled weakly and she resisted the urge to reach out and take his hand to try and reassure him. She hadn't quite anticipated how painful she would find it to watch him like this.

"It's been shitty, I'm not going to lie. Dad's trying to put on brave face but he's falling apart and she's not taking it well either. She's taking it out on us a bit – I don't mind, I get it, it's just hard. I mean, She's fine with Mia at the moment – perk of being the baby of the family I suppose. Me and Elliot are getting the worst of it, she keeps saying how upset she is that she won't get to have grandchildren or go to our weddings or even to see us just be happy. She's using the guilt card to the fullest advantage she can, she's admitted that and like I said, I can't mind, it's just her way of dealing with it but fuck, it's unbearable sometimes. I don't know what to do, I don't want her to go and be worried about us, I just want her to be happy."

"I know you love her, but have to realise it's not on you to make her happy. Even if you did everything she wanted you to, it's not going to change what's happening, it's not going to make it better. She'd still be sick, she'd still be scared."

"I know. I just feel like I need to do more for her but it's hard, you know? I mean, I have a business to run, as it is I'm driving out to see them most nights. And on top of that I'm paranoid that she's going to find out what's happening with Mia at the moment."

"What's happening with Mia?" Ana sensed he was attempting to move on to the second part of his issues, she could sense the grief he was feeling with every word he spoke about his mother.

"God – where do I even start with her mess? She's started seeing this much older man – married, kids, the works, apparently in the process of getting a divorce, but who knows really, I think that might just be a lie to get me off her case… The other week she was terrified she might be pregnant – false alarm, luckily. The only reason I know about it is because I happened to go over while he was there once and she swore me to silence, not that I'm eager for anyone else to find out. She's just being so irresponsible, I can tell she's gotten involved way too quickly and she's hiding it from everyone. If Mom found out it would just cause her so much more stress which isn't fair. I tried telling her to end it but she won't listen to me."

"That's not fair of her to put you in a position like that."

"She doesn't see it though, she thinks that me asking her to finish things is selfish and that I should be happy that she's found someone. No regard for the wife of this guy or his kids or our parents when they find out. She just likes the dramatics of it really."

"I don't know how people have love lives that are that dramatic, I really don't."

"God, I know, I can't even remember the last time I went on a date let alone I had a full telenovela storyline playing out." Ana laughed softly. "She'll figure it out eventually, I get that she's young, she's a bit like your friend Kate, she's taking full advantage of the ability to make mistakes and settle down when she's older, but the pregnancy scare the other week should have shocked her a lot more, it's one thing messing around and having fun, but there's consequences, if she actually got pregnant because she was being stupid it would be awful."

"But, plus side, you would have a cute niece or nephew!" Ana joked, hoping he wouldn't take it seriously. He laughed, thankfully seeing the funny side.

"Poor thing would probably end up living me while she spent a few more years off partying. Still, I suppose that would solve the problem of Mom not having a grandchild." He seemed a lot more upbeat now everything was off his chest.

"Do you feel a bit better now?" Ana asked him hopefully. He smiled at her and nodded.

"Much. Thank you for doing this, Ana, the cookies and coming in so I could talk to you. You're honestly – and I know this is ridiculous as fuck to say out loud – but you're the best person I know. I really don't know what I'd do without you. If you ever need to really talk, like this, I'll be there."

"I know you would." The pair stood up like they needed to physically release the tension caused by the seriousness of the conversation.

Christian looked like he was deeply considering something for a few moments before he reached out and put his arms around Ana. She was so surprised by the gesture that she stayed completely still for a few seconds before returning the hug. She gave him a small smile when he let go of her. She wanted to say something but she wasn't quite sure what and she'd learned that in situations like that it was better for her to keep her mouth shut lest she accidentally put her foot in it.

"So, uh, we've got ages before work. Fancy carrying on your musical education?"

A few months back Christian had seen Ana listening to an Abba song and though she had insisted they were firstly an iconic seventies band and that it wasn't a real reflection on the kind of music she listened to anyway, he had been annoyingly insistent about 'musically educating' her and introducing her to the various bands he enjoyed who were usually quite unknown which she almost always liked, songs from previous decades which she was usually quite split on and sometimes playing her classical music which she always hated with no exceptions. Usually she'd argue for a while that she didn't need musically educated but she was very aware that he wanted to forget about all the things he'd just unloaded on her.

"Fine, but no classical music today."

"Just a few?"

"Fine! Let me text Kate happy birthday so she doesn't think I've forgotten about her and then I'll start counting down the seconds until I can escape to the bliss of digitising more files." Even if she was willing to be nicer to him than usual it didn't mean that she couldn't make the occasional snippy comment about the worst of the stuff he made her listen to, right?


	3. Chapter 3

It was three days after he had spoken to Ana and just after midday when Christian Grey was accosted in his office by his siblings, who turned up out of the blue demanding that he spoke to them. He asked Ana to make them wait outside for a few minutes while he determined that there really was no way around speaking to them and let them in to his office.

"Ana, why don't you take your lunch break while I deal with this?" Christian offered as Mia and Elliot shoved past him into his office where they were likely causing untold damage already.

"Sure you won't need my help babysitting? I could probably find some crayon somewhere to keep them occupied." Ana teased as she started collecting her things Christian smirked and shook his head.

"Sadly I think they're bothering me for more than just a way to relieve their boredom today." Ana looked down and bit her lip, he knew immediately that she was worried. He lowered his voice so his siblings wouldn't hear him although they both seemed engrossed looking at something on Mia's phone and giggling. "I'm sure it's nothing important. They're too self-absorbed to know before me if it is. I'll speak to you when you get back." Ana nodded, looking visibly relieved.

"Can I get you anything while I'm out?"

"No, just a coffee on your way back up, please."

Christian hadn't said please when asking for anything when Ana had first started. Her third week, back when he was still calling her 'Annie' instead of her actual name, she'd been overwhelmed by work one day and he'd demanded she bring him a coffee in which had resulted in a frazzled and under thought exclamation of 'God, do you ever say please?' Usually he would have been angry but she looked so stressed by the day that he'd immediately apologised, felt increasingly guilty about it and after that never forgotten his manners around her again.

He walked into his office without Elliot or Mia noticing and made a point of shutting the door loudly to command the attention of the pair. They both looked up and smiled at him in a way which caused him to know immediately that they were trying to hide why they were here, at least for a little while.

"Did I hear Ana say she had crayons for us?" Mia asked, pouting. Christian took the seat behind his desk before responding to her.

"I really don't think it's any concern of yours what my personal assistant and I were talking about privately." His siblings got up from where they were sat and moved into the chairs across the desk from him, the ones where he sat employees that were about to be fired and people he was doing business with that he wasn't fond of. It was a power move and probably unnecessary for a conversation with his siblings but one he was reluctant not to perform. He wanted to stay firmly in control of whatever situation this was and having been caught off guard by their appearance at his office this seemed like the best way to do that.

"It is if you were being mean about us."

"Why is Ana saying she has crayons mean?" Elliot asked, sounding quite confused by the whole discussion. Mia rolled her eyes and Christian tried not to laugh.

"Because she's implying we're children, Elliot!"

"Oh. That is mean. I thought you said Ana was nice, dude?" Christian rolled his eyes and didn't bother answering the question. He looked at the both pointedly for several seconds without blinking, making both squirm slightly in their chairs.

"I assume there's a reason you're here to see me." They both nodded and Mia looked to Elliot a little worriedly, as though she was wondering whether coming in the first place had been a good idea. Christian gestured for one of them to begin talking and leant forward a little in his chair. Neither of them spoke. "One of you tell me why you're here or get the fuck out of my office, unlike either of you I do actually have work to do and I'm not in the mood for having my time wasted."

"It's Mom." Mia said with a sigh, and his expression instantly changed from one of exasperation to one of genuine concern. Maybe he'd been a bit hasty being so short with them. "We're just really worried about her, all that stuff at dinner the other night, neither of us quite knows what to do." Mia looked like she was about to burst into tears. Now Christian felt really guilty.

"Fuck, Mia, look, I know it's awful. We've just got to try and make Mom as happy and comfortable as possible. I know it's really hard being there but she'd love if you came and visited her a bit more, she's always talking about you while I'm out there."

"You go out there to see her a lot?" Elliot asked. Christian nodded.

"Every night that I've been able to recently."

"That's why you're her favourite…" Elliot said without any hint of resentment in his voice. He shifted a little in his seat before continuing and Christian tried not to look overly suspicious. "And that's why we think of all of us, you're the best one to do this." Christian's eyes narrowed, all sympathy gone when he realised that as he had imagined, this was a ploy to get him to do something for the two of them.

"And what exactly would it be that I'm the best one to do?"

"You need to get in a relationship." Mia said with a glare over to Elliot after realising that he didn't have the guts to be the one to ask. Christian glared at her, about to ridicule what she was saying. "Hear us out. Mom's sad that she's not going to see any of her kids happy. There's no way realistically that either of us," Mia gestured between herself and Elliot "would have any kind of relationship at the moment, she's a smart woman and she'd figure out it was just us trying to make her happy and it would probably make things worse. "But you're a nice guy, you have your own company and you're rich, not only do women throw themselves at you but the next logical step in your life would be for you to have a serious relationship, get married, maybe have a kid in a couple of years." Christian narrowed his eyes at his sister.

"You want one of the last things I do to Mom to be me lying to her?" he asked Mia who looked down guiltily. He turned to Elliot with questioning eyes.

"But it's a nice lie. She'd be so happy." Elliot told him.

"Fuck you both for trying to guilt me into this." Christian hissed at them. "How would that even work? I just drag the first girl in who I find, hello mother, yes I thought I'd introduce you to this person, no of course I'm not just doing this because it's what you want, I know we've only been together for a few days but I'm sure we'll be together forever."

"No but we thought about that too." Elliot tried to assure him, earning a glare from his younger brother. "You just get the girl to agree to say you've been together a bit longer than you actually have, play the sympathy card about Mom and you'll be fine!"

"I'm so glad to know how much effort you've both put into this shitty plan – perhaps if you both took the effort from this combined with Elliot's efforts to sleep with anything that moves and the energy Mia puts into partying you might be able to contribute something worthwhile to society. And I will not be using our dying mother as a sympathy vote to entrance some poor girl into this web of lies you two are so desperate to concoct."

"But think about how happy Mom would be, Christian!" Mia exclaimed.

"Fuck off Mia, if I thought this came from a place of sincerity I might be less pissed off with you but it's very clear you want to invent some fantastical story for me to be a part of just so Mom doesn't go digging too far into everything you're getting yourself involved with at the moment." Christian hissed at her. Mia's eyes widened, terrified he was going to let more slip in front of their brother but he forced himself to control it. No matter how angry she was making him, he wasn't going to betray his own sister after she'd begged him to stay quiet about what he knew about her. Elliot however seemed none the wiser, probably just assuming Mia had turned up drunk or high at his apartment again as she so often did. He looked at her almost apologetically and she smiled softly before Elliot spoke, indicating all was forgiven.

"Come on, it's all Mom asked for yesterday. I know it's a lie but it would make her really happy. You could ask Ana to set you up, she must have tons of single friends!"

"Ana my personal assistant, not a matchmaking service, I'm not asking her to find me a date."

"Besides, El, he'd never ask Ana because he's completely in love with her and he wouldn't want to see how much she wouldn't care if he asked her." Mia said with an impish grin plastered to her face. Christian couldn't help his irritation at that.

"For fuck's sake, Mia, where do you even get these fucking ideas? She's my assistant, of course I'm not fucking in love with her, we're just fucking friends!" When he was finished yelling, Christian hoped desperately that Ana hadn't come back from lunch and heard that. Mia smiled like his defensiveness was more proof of what she had said even though it just stemmed from having already being ridiculously aggravated by both of them.

"Okay maybe not, but you could be." Elliot said thoughtfully.

"What does that mean?" Christian asked, resisting the urge to put his head into his hands and stay like that until they both got bored and left him alone. He couldn't believe he was going to have to work for the rest of the afternoon after such a draining conversation; he was pretty sure he wasn't going to have any energy left once they finally left.

"Pretend to date Ana. Not in a leading her on kind of way, just get her to pretend she's your girlfriend for a bit."

"I am not going to ask her to do that."

"Yes, that's perfect!" Mia exclaimed, seeming surprised that Elliot had come up with a good idea and completely ignoring Christian's protests. "Oh my God, you could pretend to be engaged too, like you didn't want to introduce her to the family until you knew it was completely serious and now it is and you are…"

"I'm not dragging Ana into this ridiculous scheme of yours."

"Well fine, maybe we could hire someone…" Mia suggested.

"I don't think we can take a hooker to meet Mom, Mia." Elliot said looking quite horrified by the suggestion. Mia laughed.

"Not a hooker, like an actress or something, there must be somewhere you can hire a fake girlfriend, surely?"

"This is becoming insanely elaborate and, I will remind you both that I haven't actually agreed to do it yet, nor will I be agreeing to it because despite your efforts to make me feel bad, I have no desire to lie to my ill mother, especially not at the behest of you two morons who will probably tell her by accident before it's even happened." Both of them remained quiet. "Now, if that was everything and I really fucking hope it was, I'll show you both out."

"I told you it wouldn't work." Mia hissed at Elliot as they walked out of his office. Christian said goodbye as cordially as possible and felt compelled to make sure they got into the lift just in case they stayed and burst into his office trying to convince him that the worst thought out plan in history was a good idea. Jut as their lift started departing and he was about to go back into his office, the other one arrived on the floor and Ana walked out. She looked surprised to see him outside but smiled and walked over to give him the coffee she'd brought and a sandwich.

"I know you didn't ask for it but trust me the sweet chilli chicken melt from the deli on the next block is the best thing ever and you don't eat enough. How was it?" she asked. She still seemed very tentative about asking him questions although he hoped he'd given her no reason to.

"Total fucking nightmare if I'm honest."

"But everything's okay? You know, with your Mom and Mia, nothing bad has happened?"

"No they were just here to irritate me; they came up with a brand new plan of how to get under my skin and just had to try it out today."

"I'm eternally grateful I don't have siblings. Anyway, if you need anything catch me before five because I can't stay late today, I have to drive to the airport and pick up my mother. She's staying for the weekend – I swear when I agreed to her coming up it felt like so far in the future that it would never arrive. Still, it's only two nights I suppose, could be worse."

"I'll probably be here pretty late and then I'm going to see Mom after work." Christian realised as he was saying it that there was no reason she needed to know that.

"Have a good time!"

"You too, if you can." He knew about Ana's mother, more from a lack of being told anything than from what Ana had said specifically. She always dreaded her visits, and the pair had never been close. Ana had mentioned once that for most of her childhood she had lived with her first step-father away from her mother which had been how she preferred it. There were certainly a visible difference – she cringed when her mother's arrival was imminent and lit up when she told him that her step-father was visiting. "I'll look forward to hearing all about it on Monday."


	4. Chapter 4

In hindsight, Christian absolutely should have been suspicious when Mia rang late in the afternoon and asked if she could come with him to see their parents that evening. Unfortunately he'd been too busy being surprised that she was forgoing a night of getting drunk with her friends to visit their mother that he'd told her to meet him at his office and thought nothing more of it.

"Elliot said he was really sorry for not coming tonight." Mia said from perched on the edge of his desk. Christian had told her to amuse herself while he finished his work but apparently the only way she had found to do that was talking to him which he had explained was only going to make him take even longer and Mia had obviously taken no notice of.

"It's a miracle one of you is going, I think if both of you managed to take the time out of your clearly extremely busy schedules to go and see our mother you might rip a black hole in the universe."

"Stop being sarcastic. You know we love Mom, it's just so awful to go out and see her sometimes, the bad days she has are heart breaking, not to mention the scarf she has to wear on her head and how she always needs to sit down… I know she needs us Christian, I do, but it just makes me so sad, every time I see her it's just a reminder that I won't be able to for much longer." Mia told him, not meeting his eyes as she spoke. He felt a pang of guilt for being mean to her and then wondered if that was her intention or if she actually did feel like that. "Not all of us can be the saintly child."

"I'm hardly a saint, Mia." Christian scoffed.

"Well, she thinks you are. Or she would if you got a girlfriend and settled down, and then you'd be one hundred percent perfect, best child ever, no question. She'd probably disown me and Elliot because she wouldn't need other children." This probably should have been his second warning as to what exactly would happen when they arrived at their parents' house, but he remained for the time, blissfully unaware of what Mia was planning.

"Don't be ridiculous, she loves you both, I'm just a bit more settled than the two of you. It doesn't mean she loves me anymore, she just has to worry about me slightly less."

"I know, I'm just teasing you. We all know that if she actually did have a favourite it would be me because I am the prettiest, cleverest, and nicest of all her children." Christian rolled his eyes and didn't dignify his sister with a response to that. "Are we leaving yet?"

"Yes, you've officially irritated me enough that I have been rendered physically unable to complete any more work, congratulations."

"That's what I'm here for!" Mia exclaimed gleefully as she jumped off his desk, grinning at him. She pouted when she saw him glaring as he stood up. "Stop giving me that look, I'm your sister, you're not allowed to be annoyed at me. I'm saving you from yourself, Christian, like Mom's always saying, you'll work yourself to death."

"Yes, how very selfless of you." Christian sighed as he ushered her out and into the lift. "I suppose I'll be expected to drive us both."

"Of course not! I would never expect you to drive me, but consider the alternative – would you really want me to drive us both in the dark all the way to Mom and Dad's? Really Christian?"

"When did you become so good at manipulating people to do what you want?"

"I don't like that word, 'manipulate' it makes me sound mean. I'm just skilled at getting people to do what I want them to, that's not a bad thing!" Mia insisted. Christian was fairly sure that it was and also that what she had just said was the definition of manipulation but he couldn't be bothered to argue, especially with her track record of exclaiming that she was no longer speaking to someone when they started winning; the last thing that their Mom needed was for them to be in the middle of a fight when they arrived at her house.

"Oh my goodness, Mia, what a surprise!" Grace exclaimed as she opened the door to them. "It's so lovely to have you both, your father's out golfing at the moment, he would be on the one night you're both here!" Christian gave her a kiss on the cheek and the flowers they'd stopped off to buy for her.

Their mother seemed a lot smaller now than she used to; she'd lost weight with the treatment she'd been having and instead of the hair she used to have a thin silk scarf was always wrapped around her head now. She walked slower, as though every step was painful but she was going to great lengths to prove she could still do things for herself. Christian could understand why Mia didn't like seeing her like this, he didn't either, bt he'd bear it so that she knew her son was supporting her and there whenever she needed him.

"Hi Mom." Mia gave her a tight hug and shut the door behind them. Grace smiled and ushered them both past her into the kitchen.

"I bet neither of you have eaten a thing all day so there's food on the table if you want it." Grace phrased the offer as an option but her children knew by now her wrath if she thought they weren't eating properly, even now they were both well into adulthood.

"Actually I have eaten today, Mom, you don't need to worry about me."

"Suck up…" Mia whispered as she sat down. Christian pulled a face at her as he sat opposite and Grace sat beside Mia.

"Well, we've had a very interesting day, haven't we?" Mia asked. He shot her a warning look, sensing that something was about to happen but not quite sure what. "Mom, Christian told me today that he has a girlfriend."

"Mia, what the hell?" Christian asked her angrily. Of course this was misinterpreted by his delighted mother as annoyance that she had told her, not annoyance that she had just coerced him into a lie he had already refused to be a part of. Mia looked gleeful – in any other situation he just would have told them that she was lying but his Mom looked so happy already, he didn't know how he could do that to her. He'd be the one who ended up being the bad child in the situation even though Mia was the one who had decided to lie. It had been less than six hours since he'd refused to engage in this ridiculous scheme and now he was sat unwillingly participating in it.

"I know you didn't want me to say anything but I knew how happy it would make Mom, so I had to!" Mia put an arm around their mother who looked slightly stunned by the revelation but absolutely delighted too. In any other situation he might have even been a little bit proud of Mia's skills of deception, fondly called her 'cutthroat' and joked that they might have another budding business man (or in this case, woman) in the family. Of course in this situation he was too shocked and horrified that Mia had the nerve to do this that he ended up sitting in silence, stewing in the anger he was feeling.

"Well who is she?" their mother asked excitedly. He was praying that Mia pretended not to know the name, or just admitted to lying for whatever reason. Or possibly that a sinkhole would appear and swallow the house.

"It's Ana, Mom, you remember, she's his personal assistant." The only thing that could have made this worse was Mia saying exactly what she just had. At least it was now as bad as it could get, he supposed. Christian pushed his hair back from his face, always a sign that he was becoming stressed by a situation. He racked his brain for a plan of action before realising that there wasn't one apart from to just go along with the ridiculous situation. "And the reason he told me was because he wanted advice picking out a ring!"

He'd been wrong. Now it was officially as bad as it could get.

"Why have you not told us about this before?" Grace demanded, looking at him pointedly. Mia gave him a look as though this was a perfectly legitimate question.

"I didn't want to get your hopes up until it was really serious."

"Well, I'd say you being about to propose to her is fairly serious!" Grace exclaimed. "Mia, thank you for telling me, I know you're very private, Christian but I know now, you can tell me all about her!" Grace insisted excitedly. "Your father will be delighted too, he'll be so excited to meet her!"

"Meet her?" Christian asked, attempting to sound natural around the lump which had formed in his throat.

"Of course we have to meet her!"

"Ana's really shy, Mom," he said trying to sound apologetic. It might have been the first honest thing out of his mouth for the entire duration of this conversation. "I really don't think she'll want to meet you guys."

"Christian, this girl is going to be a part of the family, she'll have to meet us at some point and I'd much rather it was while I'm still around." Christian looked at his mother as she spoke and wondered if she was aware that her subtle ways of getting people to bend to her will had rubbed off on her daughter as much as they had.

"I'll ask her, Mom."

"You'll come next Friday." Grace told him, wearing the same smile she always did when she got her way.

"As in a week today?" Christian asked, horrified by the idea. "She might be busy, Mom, I have to ask." And of course there was the obvious problem that the entire relationship was fictional which might pose a problem.

"I'm sure she'll be able to clear her schedule to meet the family of the man she's going to marry, Christian." Grace huffed. Mia nodded unhelpfully in agreement, as though she hadn't already angered him enough. The door slammed and Grace smiled gleefully. "That'll be your father, he'll be so delighted when I tell him!"

Christian spent the rest of the evening seething with anger, although he managed to avoid being asked too many questions by saying 'she'll probably want to tell you about herself when she meets you' which proved to be a very effective substitute for not knowing any of the answers to the questions his parents were asking. Of course he has no idea how that meeting was going to go but he just needed to get through this evening before coming up with a plan.

"Thanks a fucking lot, Mia." Christian said as soon as they had started driving away from their parents' house. "What the fuck am I supposed to do now, go into work on Monday and try to convince my personal assistant to be my fake girlfriend? I can't fucking believe you've done this."

"Isn't that part of her job?"

"Funnily enough Mia, no, nowhere in her contract has it ever been written that she has to pretend to be my girlfriend."

"Oh. Well you should have done. I suppose you can just find some other girl who's willing to pretend to be your girlfriend and say that her name's Ana." Mia said with a shrug, putting her feet up on his dashboard and fiddling with the radio, seeming completely oblivious to exactly how angry he was with her.

"Firstly, I can't do that because Mom has been to my office and knows what Ana looks like. Secondly, and I can't stress this enough, you shouldn't have fucking lied in the first place! What the fuck were you thinking, lying about something like this? This is a new low of immaturity, even for you, Mia.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think you'd be so angry."

"No, that's your fucking problem, isn't it? You never fucking think about anything, you just breeze through life without and consideration for anyone else and how they might want to live their lives, just causing destruction everywhere you fucking go and never bothering to turn around to see the damage you've done because you're too busy moving on to ruin something else! So congratu-fucking-lations, you've officially backed me into a corner so that one of the last things I'm going to be doing to our dying mother is lying to her. We gave you a free pass when you were a teenager but you're twenty fucking years old now. You need to fucking grow up Mia and realise that everything you do because you think it might be fun or because you're trying to save your own ass by throwing someone else under the bus has consequences."

"Christian…"

"Mia, please, just don't fucking speak to me for the rest of this journey, I don't have the energy to tell you more shit you should already know. This is bad enough without you trying to justify yourself."

They spent the rest of the journey in silence. He dropped his sister off without a goodbye and was delighted when he eventually got back to his penthouse apartment and could pour himself the whiskey he'd been craving all night.

He was going to have to ask Ana to be part of this ridiculous deception, that was obvious at this point. And if she said no… Well, he was fucked. Maybe that was for the best, he'd have to tell his mother that not only had Mia lied but he'd actively joined in despite his better judgement but hopefully she'd forgive him. Eventually. The worst part was the only person he wanted to talk it through with was Ana, but he'd have to wait until he could ask her in person. It wasn't really the kid of request that could be adequately expressed in a text.

Actually, did he even have her number? He couldn't remember ever texting her before or a time when he would have asked for it. Instinctively he took his phone out to check – there she was. Before he could think the better of it he was typing out a message to her.

Christian 23:03: Hope everything went well with your mom

He put it down and took another sip of his drink. It buzzed on the table and he picked it up instantly.

Ana 23:04: Horrible! Whole weekend of this to deal with! Hope everything is okay with yours!

Christian 23:04: All good. Favour to ask you on Monday though.

Ana 23:05: What is it?

Christian 23:07: Let me talk to you about in face to face.

Ana 23:07: But everything's okay?

Christian 23:08: Yeah, don't worry.

Ana 23:09: Let me know if you need anything.

Christian looked at the last message from Ana for a long time. He expected her offer didn't extend to a fake relationship as a favour, mostly because it was such a ridiculous request that she wouldn't have ever thought he'd ask her for it. He just hoped when she inevitably refused the request wouldn't have damaged their friendship completely irreparably.


	5. Chapter 5

Earlier that evening…

"Kate please, Carla actually likes you!" Ana begged, holding her phone between her shoulder and her ear, trying not to drop it while she held up outfits to herself in the mirror. Carla would undoubtedly find something wrong with all of them, the key was to try and find the one that she would hate the least rather than something she would actually like. "I really need you here, just for the dinner bit and then I won't bother you again for the rest of the weekend."

"Yo won't be able to bother me anyway, Jackson's taking me away as a belated birthday present." Ana frowned and discarded all her dresses onto her bed and returned to the wardrobe.

"I thought you were back with Matt?"

"I was until he didn't get me a birthday present because apparently I'm too fickle about breaking up with him. Total cheapskate. Jackson got me a lovely bracelet. There really was no contest whatsoever after that." Ana found her eyes widening impossibly large at just how shallow her best friend was sometimes but as she was trying to get on Kate's good side, she didn't point it out. That would just encourage as one-sided discussion about how materialistic and shallow weren't the same thing and even if they were Kate was sure she was neither.

"See, that's exactly the kind of story Carla will love! Please she's just going to ask me why I don't have a boyfriend and make it as hellish as possible. I'm your best friend Kate, I'd do this for you."

"Fine!"

"You're the best! I'm going to pick her up in a little while from the airport, she hasn't decided what she wants to eat yet so I'll text you the address when she makes her mind up."

"Why are you wearing a dress the colour of moss, Ana?" Was the first thing her mother asked her when she got into the car. Ana was used to never receiving a particularly pleasant greeting from her. "It doesn't look nice with your hair, you look like an upside down tree." Her mother fastened her belt and gave Ana a pointed look. "Well start driving then, I'm famished. I was thinking sushi?"

"Oh that's good." Ana said as she started the engine, ignoring the remarks about what she looked like in favour of a less negative topic. "Kate's coming along and that's her favourite."

"Thank God Kate's coming…" Carla seemed to catch herself in the middle of the sentence. Ana wondered how it would have been finished if she had kept going. Thank God Kate's coming because we never have anything to say to each other? Thank God Kate's coming because we'd probably kill each other without a buffer? Thank God Kate's coming because she's more like the kind of daughter I wish I had and I can sit and pretend that she is and you're just some annoying stray she brought along. "Ana, this music is awful, I hate all this indie rubbish, put something decent on."

"Mom, we're in my car, and I like this."

"If you can even call this tin can on wheels a car. When are you going to get a proper one? I thought your job paid well?"

"It does but a car isn't really my priority. You know I'm trying to save so I can afford to actually go and get a degree, I don't really want to spend my life as a personal assistant." Even to somebody as nice as Christian.

"Well, darling, let me pay for it."

"No!" Ana shouted, making Carla raise an eyebrow at how loud she had suddenly become. Ana coughed before she continued. "I don't want to owe you anything, I've told you that."

"Honestly Ana, you should take offers like that when they come to you." Ana stayed silent and her mother sighed, shaking her head which Ana pretended not to notice.

The rest of the journey was as awkward as the first few minutes had been and Ana was relieved when they finally picked Kate up from their apartment. She greeted Carla a lot warmer than Ana had – she supposed it might be easier to get along with her if she wasn't your mother. Or maybe, as Ana often thought, Kate was just the kind of daughter Carla would have preferred; she loved to shop and gossip about boys and she agreed with most of her opinions. Maybe Kate wouldn't have chosen to live with her ex-step-father for most of her childhood either. That would probably help.

"Mom, we can help you take your stuff up now if you like?" Ana offered. Carla laughed and shook her head.

"Don't be silly darling, I didn't like staying there at all last time I was there, you don't even have a proper guest room. No, I've booked a hotel, we'll be stopping to check me in before we go to the restaurant."

"Mom, I wish you'd told me, now Kate will have to wait around for ages, I could have just taken you when we were driving into the city." Ana sighed trying not to become to exasperated with her. As much as she tried not to every conversation with her mother had echoes of her late teenage years when she'd been forced to go and live back with her, the constant feeling of not being good enough crashing over her like a tidal wave she was supposed to somehow ignore.

"It's okay, I don't mind." Kate never understood quite why Ana was so resentful of her mother and Ana had never found the courage to tell her either. She'd told her only that Carla had given her a hard time when she was a teenager and never elaborated. She preferred to keep those kinds of things to herself, but it did make it hard when Kate insisted on being nice to Carla.

"See, Ana, stop trying to cause an argument." Ana raised her eyebrows at the hypocrisy but managed to hold her tongue and stop herself from saying anything. She'd probably just trip over her words and make an idiot of herself if she tried to find a comeback.

Dinner went without much of a hitch, though Carla chipped away at Ana through it, she kept remarkably cool. Just after they'd paid the bill, Kate spotted Matt across the restaurant and her eyes narrowed when she saw the redhead that he had brought with him.

"Excuse me, ladies." Kate said, pulling her shirt down a little too far and practically leaping up from her seat to go and confront him. Ana almost felt sorry for the guy, she really hoped that Kate wouldn't shout too loudly, it was a nice restaurant which Kate really liked and she'd be really upset when she inevitably got banned from going in again.

"At least Kate seems to be enjoying my company." Ana looked at her mother like she was daring her to say any more. She was tired of attempting to keep the peace Carla seemed so determined to disturb and she could feel herself cracking, wondering which little dig would finally break her. "Maybe one day you'll grow a backbone and tell me not to come." Carla said to her with a slight shrug. The tone wasn't actually cruel and Ana didn't think she meant it meanly. More like an invitation than anything else, an indication for the first time that maybe Carla hated coming as much as Ana hated having her there. The fact she hated it too, Ana was ashamed to admit, made her hate it slightly less.

"Maybe one day you'll stop enjoying tormenting me and stop asking to come in the first place." Ana snapped back at her before she bit her lip, feeling guilty until she saw the very small half smile on her mother's face. It was twisted, there was no other word for it, that this was the first time in years Ana had seen Carla smiling.

"Maybe…" Carla said almost wistfully before she took a long sip of her drink.

"You two okay?" Kate asked as she sat back down at the table giving Ana a squeeze on the shoulder and an apologetic look for leaving in the first place. Neither of them answered.

"What did you do?" Ana asked her, eager to change the subject.

"I threw a drink in his face and pretended we were still together, the hoe he brought in ran off and we're back together! It's like a modern Cinderella." Kate told her happily. Ana raised her eyebrows wondering if her best friend realised how ridiculous she was.

"You were only gone five minutes!"

"Love knows no time limit, Ana."

"What are you going to tell Jackson?" Ana asked. Kate's face paled as she suddenly remembered that he existed before she went back to an expression of nonchalance and shrugged.

"I'll figure it out later. I'm young, I'm playing the field."

"You're playing a whore." Kate pretended to be offended with an exaggerated gasp. Ana wondered if actually she'd take the insult as a compliment.

"Ana, don't be so rude!" Carla butted in, reminding Ana that she was still there and hadn't disappeared into a portal to another dimension like Ana had been wishing for her to since she was fifteen. "It would do you good to date some people like Kate does, yo can't stay single forever you know." Ana didn't even bother masking the groan of irritation that she let out.

"I should have realised you'd bring that up eventually. Can't stand the thought of an entire conversation without worrying that your daughter might not have inherited your need to be validated by men, can you, mother?" Ana asked, folding her arms, wondering if it made her look imposing or as though she was trying to protect herself.

"I'm only showing an interest." Carla said defensively. Ana resisted the urge to pout like a child, take the moral high ground she told herself over and over again.

"No you aren't, anyone with even half a brain cell could see that. The woman with five husbands under her belt – about to be six from the engagement ring I won't bother asking you about I assume – is so worried that her daughter will end up single! If you pretend it's for any other reason than you'd be incredibly jealous if I was happy on my own then you're a liar." She stared her mother down, daring her to give a response. Carla swallowed and took a sip of her drink silently. "Kate, I'm leaving." Ana announced. Kate who looked shocked at the altercation stood rapidly.

"Round two tomorrow?" Carla quipped, making no move to sense up, guessing correctly that her daughter probably didn't feel like driving her home. Ana just took a deep breath before walking out, Kate close on her heels, luckily having the sense to wait until they were outside before she laughed.

"Ana, I've never seen you like that with her before."

"Well twenty-one years of suppressed resentment and loathing had to come out at some point. She encouraged it anyway, when you were gone she told me I needed to grow a backbone and stop letting her come, so I grew half of one and stood up for myself this time."

"I'm proud of you." Kate said, slinging an arm around her shoulders and giving her a half hug before they both got into her car.

"Yeah, I feel quite good actually. I'd feel better if she just shouted back though she just sat there like she was just surprised it had taken me that long to say it. I don't know how you can be so comfortable with your own daughter hating you." Kate smiled sympathetically but read correctly that Ana didn't want to be argued with. "I just want to go home and call my Dad."

Ana did just that when she got into her house just before eleven. She knew by then that Ray's phone would be off and he would be in bed but she just wanted to leave a message for a parent that she actually cared about, let him know that she was thinking of him. She didn't understand how someone who wasn't even a blood relative to her could be so much better at being a parent than someone who was. His voicemail made her smile; hearing his voice made her feel so much better.

"Hi Dad, it's just Ana, don't worry nothing's wrong, I was just at dinner with Mom and I wanted to call and let you know that I miss you." Ray would know immediately that her being at dinner with her mother was a loaded phrase which meant she had inevitably had a horrible time. "I hope you're okay, and I'll give you a call at a more reasonable hour tomorrow morning. I love you, bye!"

Just as she put the phone down it buzzed and she hoped it wasn't her Dad, even though she'd love to speak to him she'd feel guilty if she'd woken him up. Her eyebrows almost raised to her hairline when she saw it was actually a message from Christian.

Christian 23:03: Hope everything went well with your mom

It made her smile that he'd thought of her. She wondered about lying and saying it was fine but she didn't feel like that was a pretence she had to keep up around him – especially not after he'd been so honest with her about his family troubles the other day.

Ana 23:04: Horrible! Whole weekend of this to deal with! Hope everything is okay with yours!

She wondered when they'd even exchanged numbers and remembered it was one of their little meetings the week after she'd broken her leg, the only time he'd been the one to bring coffee. Instead of just telling him what she wanted she'd made him take her number and call when he got to the shop and read her the menu so she could decide in the moment.

Christian 23:04: All good. Favour to ask you on Monday though.

She'd already typed out the 'of course, whatever you need' before she decided it was far too eager and that normal people didn't just agree to random favours and came up with a more normal response. How was it possible to even be awkward over text? Awkwardness should not be able to transcend into a digital medium.

Ana 23:05: What is it?

Christian 23:07: Let me talk to you about in face to face.

That was definitely worrying. Her first thought was that she might get fired before she realised that was stupid – who would say they wanted a favour and then fire someone?

Ana 23:07: But everything's okay?

Ana sent it without thinking, read it back and buried her face in her pillow and groaned. Could she sound any more pathetically worried?

Christian 23:08: Yeah, don't worry.

Ana 23:09: Let me know if you need anything.

Her phone buzzed again and she checked eagerly in case it was Christian. It was Carla, demanding to know what time in the morning she should come over so their day of 'fun' could begin. Even Carla had put fun in inverted commas, knowing that it would be a terrible day, especially after the argument they'd had that evening, just the way her mother loved to make their time together. Ana stared at the message in horror then checked the time on her phone before she put it back into her bag, slung it over her shoulder and put her shoes back on, marching out of her room and banging on the door to Kate's loudly.

"Kate I'm going to get drunk, do you want to come?" The door opened almost immediately with Kate grinning on the other side.

"I know you hate it but I love you when your Mom's in town! Let's get dressed properly though, this," she gestured up and down Ana's outfit. "This definitely won't do." Kate pulled her painfully by the wrist into her room and actually rubbed her hands together.

"Well that's not a reassuring gesture." Ana complained.


	6. Chapter 6

"You look hungover." Christian said to Ana on Monday morning. She laughed, in a remarkably good mood despite her headache. She'd been out with Kate again the night before to celebrate her mother's departure for what was hopefully going to be quite a long time before she was forced to see her again and it was almost two am before she had remembered that she needed to go to work the next day.

"To you as my boss, absolutely not, I would never be so unprofessional! To my friend, yes, I sort of forgot I had to come in this morning until it was too late."

"Your Mom was that bad, huh?" Ana nodded vigorously. She felt bad about complaining about her mother, given the situation that Christian had with his but it was a fairly unavoidable situation. "Fuck, I feel really bad."

"Don't feel bad." she said as reassuringly as possible. "It's not your fault."

"No… I mean, it's shitty that you have to go through that, I just feel bad that you've not had a great time the last few days and I should be helping now rather than adding to it." Ana felt her face fall into a frown.

"Oh my God, you actually are going to fire me!"

"Ana, what? No, no, I'm not going to fire you, of course not, I'd go crazy here if it wasn't for you. Actually you thinking that is probably kind of good for me because at least what I'm actually asking isn't that bad." Christian said, shaking his head at her. Ana sighed in relief. "I think I should just tell you whole thing right now… When Mia and Elliot were here the other day they were trying to convince to lie to my mother because she wants me to be in a relationship and when I went the other day Mia ended up telling her that I did actually have a girlfriend."

"That's horrible, why would anyone do that, that's such an unfair situation to put you in!"

"Well exactly. Mom looked so happy that I really didn't have the heart to correct her, I know somehow even though it was Mia's invention I would have come off looking worse and it just would have started an argument."

"But I'm confused, what does this have to do with asking me a favour?"

"Mia told Mom that the girl I was seeing was you." Ana honestly felt herself stop breathing for a few seconds as she just stared at him.

"You're asking me to lie for you, aren't you?" Ana hadn't meant what she said to sound quite as judgemental or confrontational as it did but as soon as the realisation had dawned on her she had found herself unable to stop the words slipping harshly from her mouth. "All ethical reasons aside, Christian, you know me pretty well by now. I'm barely able to speak to people sometimes I get so anxious… Do you really think I'm any good at lying? Because I'm not."

"I know."

"Don't you have some girl you're sleeping with or whatever that could do this instead of me?" Ana asked, grasping for any possible escape for a situation she was aware now it was inevitable she would end up a park of. Christian smirked and shook his head.

"Mia was very clear about who I was seeing, my mother's seen you around, I think she might be suspicious if I brought someone else to meet her. Besides, I'm not seeing anyone even casually."

"Really?" Ana was genuinely surprised by that admission. "Fuck, if you can't get people to date you then there's absolutely no hope for the rest of us, is there?"

"God, do you really think I wouldn't have told you? Ana, I tell you everything, you would know if I was seeing someone."

"I just thought we didn't talk about relationships."

"Well we don't but that's because neither of us have even come close to having one in the entire time we've been friends." Ana wanted to be insulted by the insinuation but she couldn't deny the accuracy. She was surprised though, she couldn't remember ever explicitly saying that she was single. He'd obviously just worked it out by the omission of any details about it when they spoke, although by that line of thinking then he could assume her life hadn't begun until she was eighteen; she'd never spoken to him about her childhood apart from sparse details that couldn't be avoided and had no intention of doing so. "Look, I know this is a big ask. I'll owe you forever and Ana, I would not ask if I had any other option, I would never want to put you in that position. And I completely understand if you say no, I would never hold it against you. This is the first and only time I'll ask."

"I know." Ana said, almost miserably. "And that's why I have to say yes, isn't it, because you're a nice person and I know you'd never ask me to do this unless it was completely necessary." She sighed theatrically before nodding reluctantly. "You owe me eternal favours until the end of time. Okay, what's this going to involve me doing?"

"It's just one dinner with my parents and not forgetting to wear the ring." Christian told her. "Honestly Ana, I'm so lucky to have you as a friend I-"

"Excuse you?" Ana interrupted. "Back up, what was that about a ring?"

"Mia told them I was engaged, does that really make any difference?" Christian seemed genuinely confused. Ana shot him daggers with the look she gave him.

"Maybe not for you! It definitely does for me! No woman gets married at twenty one unless they're pregnant and I'm not lying about that!"

"No, Ana, that's ridiculous, I'd never ask you to do that, nobody would ever lie about having children."

"I did once!" He looked at her completely baffled. "Not on purpose! It was… okay, this woman came in here and she had her kids tagging along for whatever reason – there were about three of them – and she left them here while she had a meeting with you and they were nightmares, horrible, the kind of loud ones that make you never want to have children and after about forty five minutes of hell she came out and she said 'oh, sorry about them, I hope they didn't bother you too much' and nobody had ever apologised on behalf of their kids to me before so I didn't know how to respond so I just said what my mother always does in situations like that which is 'don't worry, we've all got them'." Christian supressed a laugh, which she noticed and frowned at.

"Well, that's not too bad." he offered. Ana shook her head.

"Not if that had been it. But then this woman started asking loads of questions like how many I had and was I married and how old are they and what were they called and it just spiralled out of control. I had to make up a whole other life on the spot, it got really detailed"

"Oh my god, Ana." Christian put his head in his hands as he spoke.

"I think the moral of that story is that I need to think more before I speak."

"I think the moral of that story is that I need a new personal assistant." Christian looked at her like he was inviting her to disagree. She glared. "And I'll rephrase what I said before: no sane person would ever lie about having children because clearly that is not a description which extends to you."

"I mean I can't disagree with that… This woman comes in all the time for meetings with you too, she always asks me about them. I had to make a cheat sheet to bring up on the computer so I can revise before she comes in." There was a long pause in conversation where he tried to stop chuckling enough to form a cohesive sentence.

"Fucking hell, Ana… Why am I only just hearing about this now?"

"I don't like telling you stories that make it sound like I'm bad at my job." He was too busy trying to looking horrified to formulate a response. "See, this is why I'm completely the wrong person to ask to lie on your behalf! Either I can't do it or I do it by accident and get way too caught up in an elaborate and unbelievable plot!"

"That's only one occasion."

"You need more proof? Okay, how about this, about a year ago, Kate and I went to a wedding rehearsal dinner except we walked into the wrong room and ended up at some poor man's wake. We were both too embarrassed to leave, Kate stayed on the side-lines and was vague if people asked her how she knew him but I got frazzled by all the questions, lied my heart out and long story short I was asked to sing since I 'obviously knew him so well'."

"And did you?" Christian looked like he was trying extremely hard to hold it together and not dissolve into uncontrollable laughter. Ana nodded miserably.

"I couldn't say no! I ended up singing 'I Have Nothing' by Whitney Huston and his daughter cried, told me it was a touching tribute and asked me to stay in touch. I really didn't realise I knew so many of the verses… Kate's never let me live it down."

"How do you live like that?" Christian asked, shaking his head in wonder at what he was just learning about her.

"I really don't know." Ana was glad that he owed her a favour and could be sworn to secrecy about all of this – she hadn't really meant to tell him, they'd just sort of come out. Maybe she was trying to get him to rescind the request of her being his fake girlfriend – no, sorry, fake fiancée – by highlighting events in her life which showed her unsuitability to any role which included lying. Sadly, they seemed to have the adverse effect on Christian. "At least you can clearly keep a lie up, which is what I need you to do. And it's good that you're a bit too detailed, couples don't tend to be vague when they talk about each other, do they?" She resisted the urge to pout at the fact she was going to have to go through with this. Yes, she'd agreed but a very large part of her had wanted him to tell her actually not to worry about it' he'd changed his mind, or reveal this was some elaborate joke. Sadly, neither happened.

"Anyway, back to the matter at hand." Christian began. Ana felt her stomach lurch. "Mom wants us to come for dinner on Friday, if you're free." Ana resisted the urge to laugh. She only had a social life when Kate begged her to go out or she wanted to get drunk and forget her mother existed.

"Yeah, I don't think I have anything on…"

"That's good. I was thinking, we should probably have dinner tonight." Ana frowned at the offer.

"You want to go on a date with me?"

"Not a date, Ana. But we can say it's when we got engaged, technically that'll be true I suppose, it's about the only part that will be… And I was thinking more getting to know a few more details about each other just so we don't seem completely clueless." On one hand, Ana was horrified by the idea of having to be any more detailed about herself than she already had been, on the other, she had agreed to this and probably should have been aware that this was something she might have to do. "Just the basics. I don't want to know anything you don't want to tell me." Christian assured her, clearly sensing her hesitation. She wondered if he knew her mind was firmly fixed on her mother in that moment. She bit down hard on her lip, almost surprised that she didn't draw blood and nodded slowly.

"Okay. Can I tell Kate about this? She'll be really suspicious if I suddenly start leaving the flat without her during non-work hours."

"Yeah of course you can, this isn't some life-altering, everyone we've ever met kind of a lie, this just has to extend to my parents. Mia and Elliot both know what this is, they'll help as much as they can when you meet them to ease you into it. It benefits them even more than it does me if I'm in a relationship, Mom scrutinises them a lot less."

"Well great, everyone seems to get something out of this except me."

"Ana, if you'd like to discuss a payment then I'm quite happy to-"

"No, fuck no!" Ana exclaimed, shaking her head rapidly. "I mean firstly, that seems to be erring dangerously on the line of prostitution which I'm definitely not comfortable with, and secondly, I'm not taking your money for doing you a favour. This is pro bono and I will back out if you try to change my mind. You just owe me non money related favours until one of us dies." He smiled and nodded, knowing when not to fight her.

"That sounds agreeable." The phone rang outside, indicating that their discussion needed to be cut. "I'll pick you up at seven tonight if that's okay with you?" Ana nodded. "And, what sort of ring would you like?"

"What?"

"Well, I have to buy one, it might as well be one you'd like to look at."

"Oh. You don't have to do that." Christian shot a look her way which made her squirm and feel obliged to answer even though she didn't want to. "I like sapphires. And I'm not a big fan of gold if I'm honest, just because none of my other jewellery is gold."

"I didn't mean for you to be quite that specific." Christian said, shaking his head. Ana looked worried for a moment before he winked at her, letting her know he was joking and she emitted a sigh of relief. "I'll see you tonight."

"Don't spend all day ring shopping." Ana teased him as she left.

When she got to her desk, instead of picking up the phone she put her head on it and groaned as quietly as possible. Hungover, roped into an elaborate lie, having to tell Kate about everything later, meeting Christian outside of work for the first time on purpose… Yes, Ana thought it was set to be a very long day indeed.


	7. Chapter 7

"Kate I have news!" Ana yelled as she entered their apartment later that day. Kate exited her room in record time as was sitting on the sofa eagerly awaiting whatever gossip Ana apparently had to tell her before Ana had even taken her coat and shoes off. Ana suddenly realised she didn't actually have a plan of how to tell Kate and had to sit down to think about it for a few seconds.

"Spit it out, Ana! Don't be a gossip tease!"

"I'm going to pretend to be engaged to somebody." Ana said, figuring she should just come straight out with it.

"Wow, Ana, if you're that desperate why don't you just let me set you up with somebody, that's crazy! I've offered like a million times. Is this because of your Mom because I know I tease you about being single but you don't need to listen to her criticising you…" Kate said, sounding almost worried. Ana smiled, letting her keep going because Kate actually being nice was very rare.

"Kate it wasn't my idea, I'm doing it as a favour."

"Oh thank God!" Kate hugged her, clearly relieved. Ana tensed up slightly. "I just thought you were really running out of options. So why are you doing this?"

"Well, I felt bad saying no… Christian asked because-" Kate squealed loudly and interrupted her.

"Wait this is for Christian? As in Christian hot as fuck Grey? Oh my God! That changes everything, forget what I said. Ana, this is amazing, this is so unbelievably perfect. We need a fool proof plan for taking this fake relationship into a real one. You have a good door here, your foot's through it, yo just need to shove your way in, make yourself irresistible and then you'll have a relationship with a really hot and really rich guy."

"You're so shallow sometimes, if I was going to date him – which I'm not – it would be because he's a nice person. And I'm not, this is totally fake, it's just so his Mom thinks he's happy, I only have to go to one dinner with his parents and then it's over."

"Boo!"

"Can you please stop booing me and help me pick something to wear?" Ana asked with a weary tone to her voice. Kate suddenly looked excited again. "Yes, before you ask, I am going out with him this evening – and no, it's not a date, he just suggested that we should learn a little bit more about each other so we can be convincing when his parents ask us questions."

"I mean it sounds like a date so…" Kate muttered but she got up anyway and bounded eagerly into Ana's bedroom. Ana regretted the decision to ask for her help almost immediately.

"I can't believe you have a date!" Kate said eagerly for at least the fifth time since Ana had mistakenly allowed her into her bedroom. She was giving her a tension headache, not to mention that she kept flopping down onto the bed and messing up the scatter cushions that she didn't seem to be aware Ana kept tidying.

"For the last time, it's not a date; it's just dinner so we can talk about this whole fake engagement thing outside of the office." Ana informed her with a slightly clipped tone to her words. She was about two more irritating remarks away from locking Kate in her closet and possibly never letting her out of it again afterwards. "And it's only me because I don't think he currently interacts with any other women apart from the occasional polite nod to some of the people that work for him." Kate ignored her, now pulling dresses out of Ana's closet and holding them up to her friend.

"You should wear blue, and then it'll match the ring he's getting you!" Ana sighed and bit her lip worriedly.

"I really hope he's not spent too much money on it…" she mused. Kate rolled her eyes.

"Ana, he's a billionaire. He could buy you the most expensive ring he could find and it would barely make a dent in what he has, I don't think you need to be worried." Kate handed her a navy bardot dress which Ana was sure she must have snuck in there while she wasn't looking because she would never have chosen something like that for herself and had no recollection of buying it. Kate rolled her eyes when she saw her friend looking dubious. "You'll look hot! You'll have to take pictures, right, nobody gets engaged without taking pictures or dressing up pretty."

"I'm going to spend the whole night worrying about it falling down."

"No, you're going to spend the whole night falling in love with your fake fiancé. It's destiny Ana, it happens in all the rom-coms."

"Kate, please don't take this the wrong way but if I wanted advice about romance you're not the first person I'd ask being as your only experience of it is from terrible films and you currently have two boyfriends."

"Which makes me doubly expert on the subject!"

"It definitely doesn't."

"Ana, stop arguing with me, I still need to do your hair and makeup, we only have an hour." Kate scolded her. Ana glared at her friend.

"Not. A. Real. Date." Kate pouted. "I think it's going to look really weird if I dress up, Kate, he's going to think I'm taking it way too seriously."

"Okay but consider this: he's probably going to take you to a really nice restaurant because he's too rich to do anything else and it will look much weirder if you're underdressed." Kate said, looking triumphant. Ana didn't want to agree with her but she knew she was probably right.

"Maybe I'll just text him and ask…"

"Ooh, if you're doing that ask for a shirtless picture." Kate suggested. Ana looked at her in disgust. "What? There weren't any on the internet when I was researching." Ana raised her eyebrows at what Kate apparently considered research. "Also can you get him to give me his brothers number, he looked really hot too. And hey, maybe a shirtless picture of him as well, let's go all out."

"I'm not doing any of those things."

"You're no fun." Kate said as she scowled.

Christian arrived right on time as Ana was checking herself over in the mirror again. She'd managed to mute down Kate's taste in heavy makeup so she looked less like a drag queen and more like an actual person and hissed at her friend that she was to stay in her room until they'd left which Kate reluctantly agreed to. Ana briefly panicked at the door about what to say before she forced herself to open in.

"Good evening, Ana. We match" Christian greeted her. She wasn't sure what he was talking about for a moment before she clocked the tie he was wearing, the same shade of blue as the dress that was currently making breathing a genuine challenge. She'd been too busy being dazzled by the smile and his lovely grey eyes. "These are for you, just a small token of my appreciation for everything you're doing." He handed her a bouquet of purple tulips which like an idiot she had also failed to notice.

"They're gorgeous, thank you so much, but you really didn't have to get me anything. Come in, I'll put these in water, I'd ask Kate to do it but she's not very reliable." Christian smirked. "How did you know these were my favourite?"

"You mentioned it to me once about a month ago, I noted it down so I could send you some at Christmas or your birthday." Christian explained as Ana took the vase from the middle of the coffee table and filled it with water from the kitchen sink, arranging the flowers into it on the counter.

"That's really sweet!"

Ana took her phone out and snapped a picture of the flowers.

"Instagram?" Christian asked and she rolled her eyes at the teasing tone in his voice.

"No, actually Kate did actually have quite a good suggestion earlier for possibly the first time ever which was that we should take some pictures of ourselves, you know, so we've got stuff to show your Mom and the whole thing seems a bit more real. I thought maybe if my soon to be fiancé actually got me flowers I might take a picture of them so I could remember it."

"That's actually a very good idea…" Christian mused.

"See, Ana, I told you it was!" Kate yelled from her bedroom, apparently able to hear everything they were saying. Ana smiled apologetically at Christian.

"Perhaps we should take an afternoon out of work this week and do this properly, go to a few places in different outfits so it looks like we've actually had a full relationship, save them in a separate album on our phones so that it doesn't show what date they were taken on…" Christian mused. Ana laughed, it made sense definitely but the whole thing was quite farcical now. "You don't want to?" he asked, misinterpreting her humour at the situation for reluctance.

"No, that's actually a good idea!" Ana assured him as Kate came bursting out of her room.

"Since I suggested it can I direct the shoot?"

"It's some staged pictures of us as a couple not a project for a photography degree, we don't need a director." Ana sighed. Kate huffed loudly and folded her arms like a child. Ana often wondered if living with an actual child might be easier that living with Kate; they probably had the same amount of temper tantrums but they went to bed earlier and didn't drink alcohol.

"Actually, Ana, it's probably not a bad idea, she can take pictures of us both as though we asked someone passing to do it and she can be in some of them to make it seem like I've met your friends." Christian reasoned.

"Friend singular." Kate corrected him eagerly. "I'm her only friend apart from you." Ana might have been embarrassed with anyone else but with Christian she knew that he had one less friend than she did so she brushed off the remark.

"I could ask Mia and Elliot to come along too, take a couple to put at the end, we'll say that you wanted to meet them before the dinner to make you a little more comfortable and the four of us can talk a bit more about how we're actually going to do this." Ana nodded in agreement as Kate's eyes lit up.

"Elliot's your hot brother, right?" Kate asked Christian. He nodded with an amused look in his eyes. Kate grinned. "I'm definitely looking forward to this." Ana shook her head.

"I'm sure Ana said something about you having a boyfriend…" Christian said, acting as though he didn't remember. Ana knew perfectly well that he did, she'd complained about Kate and her revolving door of men in just about every conversation they'd ever had with each other, and catching the glint in his eye Ana decided to play along.

"Yeah, Kate, Matt would be so upset if he heard you saying things like that about someone else!" Ana said, trying to maintain the innocent look in her eye and tone of voice.

"Was it Matt? For some reason I thought her boyfriend was called Jackson." Christian shook his head as if he couldn't understand why the names had been mixed up. Kate looked horrified across the counter from them, as if she was quickly sifting through her thoughts to find an explanation.

"No, that's her other boyfriend. But he'd probably be sad too – he doesn't even know he's sharing you with one other guy, let alone if you brought a third one into the mix." Kate's eyes narrowed as she realised what was happening.

"I know what you're doing!"

"You are unbelievable thought, Kate." She looked at Christian with a small smile. "Shall we go?" He nodded and they made their way towards the door.

"Have fun!" Kate yelled. Ana ignored her and shut the door loudly behind them.

"Sorry about her." Ana said apologetically as they left her apartment. "She has absolutely no filter but she has a nice taste in furniture and lets me use her Mercedes sometimes so there are some benefits to living with her." They stepped into the elevator together.

"I don't mind. I forgot to say how beautiful you looked when I arrived, I apologise. The dress suits you very well." Ana blushed and made a conscious effort not to bite her lip. She couldn't remember him ever commenting on her appearance before, she was sure if he had she would have been just as embarrassed but it would probably help to get a little more comfortable with things like that before dinner with his parents later that week. She supposed that was partially what this evening was about, she'd only ever managed to be relaxed around him when it was just the pair of them and he probably didn't want her shutting down like she had when he'd seen her out eating with Kate.

"You look nice too." Ana managed to force out of her mouth. He looked at her sympathetically before they arrived on the ground floor and walked out to his car.

"Try to think of this just as one of our normal chats, just in a slightly different venue." Christian suggested. Ana had to smile; no, it wasn't particularly helpful but he could tell she was uncomfortable and his attempt to make her feel a little better was appreciated and went a long way towards relaxing her. She smiled at him genuinely.

"It's not you making me uneasy." she assured him. "It's just I know that the press follows you sometimes and I was worried they'd take my picture and then my Dad would see and I'd have to explain everything to him. Telling Kate, drama queen of the century that I'm embarking on a mission of deception and a fake engagement is one thing but trying to explain that to my Dad is way different. Plus everyone we work with would see." Christian opened the car door for her to get in – she was delighted that he had driven himself and hadn't brought a driver along to make things more awkward.

"Ana, your Dad lives in Maine, right?" She nodded in response. "We're going somewhere really quiet, I've never had trouble there before, and I promise, if there are photographers it's not going to reach Maine, it's usually silly local papers, not national ones. As for people at work… Well, I suppose that would be an issue. Tell you what, if you see flashing lights yell and I'll throw my jacket over you." Ana laughed. It wasn't a great solution but he was so casual about all of this that it was difficult for her to continue feeling anxious. Actually, she was quite looking forward to getting away from Kate for a few hours and spending the evening with him.


	8. Chapter 8

"I hope you don't mind that I booked us a private room… I know I should have asked but I thought you'd prefer the privacy." Christian said to Ana as they sat down at their table in a room Ana was sure was bigger than her apartment.

"No, it's perfect!" Ana assured him.

"Shall I give you the ring now, or would you prefer to wait?"

"Whenever you'd prefer, I suppose, you're the one proposing." It felt so odd talking like that to Christian, so casually about him proposing to her. The idea was still insane to her. He smiled and took the small black velvet box out of his jacket pocket and lay it on the table in front of her. "Is it materialistic for me to say I'm actually quite excited to see it?"

"Not at all… I actually quite enjoyed picking it out."

"You picked it yourself?" Ana asked, genuinely surprised by the admission. She'd just assumed he was going to send one of his staff out to get it for him.

"Of course I did, Ana." She bit down gently on her lip as she opened the box, revealing the ring, a circular cut sapphire set in platinum, diamonds placed in shapes around it, giving it an almost crown-like appearance. She was stunned for a moment, completely silent as she took in what she had just been given. "It's okay if you don't like it, Ana, I'll find you another one."

"No, it's beautiful. I love it." He looked genuinely relieved. "I've never seen anything like it."

"It's art deco, actually from the 1920's, not just inspired by them… I thought you'd suit an antique better than something new. Nothing seemed unique enough, I didn't think you'd want some huge gaudy thing, this felt a little more understated." Christian sounded proud of himself for picking out something she liked so much. "Shall I put it on you?" Ana laughed and nodded holding out her hand tentatively so he could slip the ring onto her finger.

"It's so gorgeous!" she exclaimed, holding her finger up so she could admire it some more. "Thank you for going to so much trouble…" She was still staring at it in disbelief that she would actually get to wear it. It looked like something beautiful in a museum that should be kept under glass and never be entrusted to someone like her who would probably lose it, or at least go mad panicking when it wasn't in the place she thought it would be. The next few days she would have to be incredibly vigilant about what happened to it and keeping it on her person at all times.

"Don't lose it, Ana." Christian warned her jokingly. It was like he read her mind sometimes.

"Don't worry, I will be so careful with it, it will be sparkling and very much not lost when I give it back to you." Ana promised him.

"Ana, you're not giving it back to me." She opened her moth to argue and he shook his head. "No negotiating, it's a gift." Christian told her firmly. She wanted to argue, she really did, but also, it was a really pretty ring and she'd be lying if she said there wasn't a much bigger part of her that wanted to keep it forever. She could also tell that he would stand firm on that, at least for now.

"You might want to use it for your actual fiancée one day." Ana suggested teasingly. He laughed like it was a ridiculous suggestion.

"It's for you."

"We'll discuss it later."

"No, we won't Ana." Christian clearly thought that by her not arguing now that he'd won. He probably had, he was difficult to persuade and also there was no part of her that really wanted to give it back. It was way too pretty.

"What do you think, as to how long should we have been together?" Ana asked to start off the dialogue of lies she would need to memorise by Friday, although maybe she could just show his mother the ring and stun her into silence like she had been, then she wouldn't bother asking any questions.

"I think six months, then it feels like we're eager to get married but not rushing too much and it's realistic that I might not have wanted to tell my parents yet." Ana nodded in agreement. It still seemed crazy to her that she was inventing a relationship when she'd never even been in one. She couldn't imagine spending six months with somebody, let alone getting engaged to them, the whole thing was completely foreign to her. At least Christian was a bit out of practice too.

"We should probably figure out how we're going to say we got together." Ana suggested after they'd ordered their food.

"That's a good idea. Seems like something we should know. Are we just going to have met at work or is there something else we could say?"

"What about if we say once Kate came to give you an interview and after it was done you really hated how you came across and she agreed to pull it if you'd take her friend on a date. It didn't go super well but I mentioned I was looking for a job and you were looking for a personal assistant so I started working for you and then eventually the feelings we never got on that first date started creeping in."

"I like that. Who knows, maybe in another life that really would have been how it went."

"Don't be ridiculous. We both know you'd never agree to actually give Kate an interview, no matter how much she begged, and she'd never arrange a date for her friend if she thought she had a shot. In that universe you're dating her, sorry."

"God, that's a terrifying thought. What about hobbies?"

"Mostly I read a lot, I write too."

"I didn't know you wrote."

"Yeah, I'd really love to be published one day, it's been my dream since I first held a pen basically. I write a lot of things that inspired by real life, some fantasy sometimes when I need to escape a bit. I actually think I'm pretty good, I just don't know if I write the kind of stuff other people would want to read. And finding time to do it is nearly impossible, it feels like every time I sit down at my laptop with the intention of writing I get distracted by something minor and never go back to it."

"What's your absolute favourite book?" Ana had made Christian read a lot of books she liked ever since he had claimed he enjoyed reading but didn't have the time to sift through books to find good ones. As an avid reader she had volunteered her services and usually gave him a couple of suggestions every month which for the most part he always enjoyed.

My favourite book is Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, do you remember it? I made you read it about a year ago." Christian nodded and gave a small smile at that and she looked at him questioningly.

"Well, it figures that would be your favourite. I mean, you practically are the protagonist. I can just see you as the quiet girl marrying some rich, older guy for love, then moping around your country house when he ignores you. I'm pretty sure I told you all this after I finished reading it. I picture you the whole way through, she felt so similar to you."

"Honestly, I never really liked her. She should have just asked him what was wrong instead of spending a whole novel brooding and sad. I always liked Rebecca."

"The psycho?"

"She wasn't psycho! Okay, maybe a bit. I don't know, she always felt kind of like she just wanted to be in control of her own life and she never was… I found that kind of relatable. I guess I did turn out a little unnamed heroine though."

"Okay, if you could be any character across the whole of literature, who would you be?"

"That's a good question…" Ana bit on her lip thoughtfully for a few moments, wanting to pick one accurately and also one she knew he'd have read before settling on one and grinning. "Okay… You're going to judge me but I would definitely be Amy Dunne from Gone Girl."

"Another psychotic woman! I'm beginning to see a worrying pattern…"

"Okay, yes, she does some pretty bad things." Christian raised his eyebrows. "Really bad things, but she's clever and she knows how to play people and when she starts losing control of her life she takes it back, even in such an extreme way, I think that's admirable. She plans, she's logical, she's got a lot of traits I'd love to have."

"Okay, I admit those are good reasons. You've got kind of a thing about control though, I never realised that." he mused.

"It's not about having to have control over every single detail of my life or what happens to me but I just don't like it being taken away and not being able to get it back. That's what my Mom used to do. When I was fourteen she took away any illusion that I had control over my own life… It was terrifying. I never want to feel like that again." Ana was surprised by her own honesty, usually she avoided talking about her mother unless she was asked directly and here she was offering details without being prompted at all.

"You don't have to say any more." Christian told her. "Don't feel the need to tell me anything that makes you uncomfortable." It made her smile that he was able to sense so easily when she became uneasy with a conversation. He reached out and took her hand briefly to give it a reassuring squeeze.

"I don't mind. I actually don't mind telling you stuff like this. You're always really honest with me even though I know your instinct is to keep stuff to yourself, just like me. I think that brings out that side of me. I just don't want to tell you everything, not right now. My Mom is just a really difficult subject, it goes way her just being very critical of my decisions and it's stuff I've kept to myself for a very long time."

"I understand. I'm pleased that you feel comfortable enough with me to share what you have, I know it's difficult for you. We have that in common." She felt less tense as he spoke and found herself smiling at him.

"That was heavy for dinner conversation." Ana joked, feeling a lot happier for having shared what she had with him. She loved Kate, of course she did, but Kate wasn't the kind of person you shared information with if you wanted it to remain private or not to then face a litany of questions about it that you didn't want to answer. There was none of that with Christian, he never pushed her for more than she wanted to tell him which was what made her want to share even more with him. She hadn't thought about it until that very moment but she trusted him more than any other person. Brick by brick he was breaking her walls down, and amazingly, she didn't mind, she actually wanted him to keep doing so.

The conversation was interrupted when their food was brought over, and Ana was relieved that it gave them an excuse to change the topic.

"Let's try something more positive. What's your favourite song?" Christian asked her. She smiled, relieved at the simplicity of the question.

"That's depressing too! It's One Headlight by The Wallflowers."

"That is depressing. Favourite happy song."

"Leeds United by Amanda Palmer, that's a jam. Kate and I always played it on repeat one time when we were getting ready for a night out, then later that same evening we found it on a karaoke machine and we sang it while we were really drunk, it's one of my favourite memories of the two of us, best night out I've ever had and that was the soundtrack to it. What about you, I know you have a great sense of musical superiority."

"My favourite will always be Five Years by David Bowie. One of the most depressing songs ever written but so good."

"I really wouldn't have guessed you liked David Bowie."

"He's good, not my favourite overall artist but that song is just unbeatable. Mia went through a phase when she was about twelve where she had a huge crush on him in that movie Labyrinth and bought all his music, about the only good thing to come out of it was me discovering that song existed."

The rest of dinner went well even though Christian complained about the questions Ana thought up to ask him (she has no idea what was wrong with asking what Hogwarts house he'd be in – probably Slytherin – or what his spirit animal would be – which she'd have to consider for a while longer – but apparently he had to know what the questions meant to be able to answer them). Both kept remarking on the way home how they actually should spend time together outside the office more once this whole fake engagement thing was finished with.

"So is tomorrow okay for our couple's photoshoot?" Christian asked her as they pulled up to her apartment building. He got out quicker than she could and went round to open the door for her.

"Yeah, definitely. I'll bring some outfits from different times of the year so it looks realistic– this is next level deception, Christian, we need to commit."

"I already gave you an engagement ring tonight Ana, I think we both know I'm very committed." Christian teased her. She laughed and saw a curtain twitch in her apartment. She rolled her eyes when she realised Kate must have stayed up to watch for them coming back.

"I'd better go, I have to face the Kavanaugh Inquisition before I go to bed. I had a really nice time tonight, fake engagement aside. This was definitely the best not quite a date that I've ever been on."

"I have to say, I had much more fun tonight than any actual date I've had in the last… Well, probably ever actually. You're setting the bar pretty high."

"I'm a difficult act to follow but you could have any girl you wanted. I'm sure you'll find one who is leaps and bounds ahead of me as soon as this whole fake relationship thing is over." Ana said, brushing off what he was saying. He didn't answer just smiled at her and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"See you tomorrow."

"Goodnight, Christian."

He waited until she was inside before he got into his car. She'd be lying if she said that deep down, buried under layers of denial, there wasn't a tiny part of her that kind of wished when he leaned in that he'd kissed her properly. Purely so she could see what it was like of course. No feelings, she kept repeating to herself. No feelings.

She really couldn't tell whether it was true or she was just trying to convince herself.


	9. Chapter 9

"Did you get the cake?" Kate asked the second Ana and Christian stepped into their apartment. Ana looked at the large box she was carrying and then back at Kate who was clearly oblivious.

"Yes, Kate, obviously we got it."

"I am so excited for this whole afternoon! I've tried to come up with a bunch of times where you definitely would have taken pictures… So the first thing we're going to do is the fake birthday for Ana here, also the first time Christian met me, so I'll take a few of you guys together, then we're staging a cute summer picnic in the park – Mia and hot Elliot are meeting us there so we can go for a meal which is where you're officially introduced to them." Ana went to scold her for calling Christian's brother hot Elliot but Kate held a hand up to her. "Then we're going to drive out to the woods and do an Autumn hike and hopefully catch the sunset and then back to Christian's house for both his birthday fake and fake Halloween."

The apartment was decorated with balloons and banners, all the typical birthday paraphernalia that she and Kate never usually bothered with.

"I can't believe how much effort you've put into this." Ana said, shaking her head in amazement. Usually Kate put the minimal amount of effort into things when she could get away with it. The fact this was so intricately planned made Ana feel like something was wrong.

"I've also planned outfits for you based on the pictures you sent me earlier of what he's wearing so you look co-ordinated but not like weird adult twins. Christian, Ana's bedroom is second on the left, you go get changed first." she ordered. He looked genuinely amused at her no nonsense tone but gave Ana a look to make sure it was okay he went in there. She nodded to let him know it was fine.

"Yes, ma'am." He gave Kate a mock salute before walking in. Ana waited until he was inside her room before she turned to Kate.

"What happened?" she asked. Kate looked instantly guilty. "Come on, spill, why are you so excited about this, why have you put so much effort into it?"

"Matt and Jackson both broke up with me last night. They said they were sick of me keeping them both dangling. I was just trying to take my mind off it. I know I've gone a bit overboard…" Kate said softly. Ana felt instantly guilty for being so confrontational and put her arms around her friend. "I'm not even angry that they did it… I was horrible to both of them. I just feel really bad now."

"Well, maybe it's just a lesson for next time, Kate. Maybe just date one person at a time?"

"Hmm, you could be right…" Kate said like she genuinely wasn't sure. "And what about you?" Ana was genuinely confused by the question.

"What about me?"

"Do not give me the innocent eyes, Anastasia Steele, I have lived with you for three years now which is enough time to know your habits by heart. I know you cook when you're anxious, you sleep on the sofa if you feel uneasy and that you sing Shania Twain in the shower when you have a crush and what did I hear you belting out this morning? You're Still the One, loud and clear and quite off key actually if I'm honest. Do you actually have a thing for Christian because oh my God, I always knew I was destined to be the real life best friend of a romcom protagonist…"

"Firstly, if I did have a crush on someone, it wouldn't necessarily be on him and second, this is a pointless discussion anyway because it just came on the radio." Ana was lying but she had a good poker face when it came to Kate questioning her about things like this. It had just popped into her head but Kate was ridiculous, she didn't do that when she had a crush. She had told herself enough times last night that she didn't have feelings for Christian that she was sure she didn't. Kate looked at her dubiously.

"I didn't hear the radio."

"You were probably too busy congratulating yourself on your not a deduction." Kate looked annoyed but also like that could possibly be true. Ana rolled her eyes, attempting to clear her face of expression as she saw Christian come out of her room. "Go get changed now, I'll look after him." Kate looked delighted that she was going to be left alone with Christian and Ana sighed reluctantly leaving their kitchen and walking to her room. She was praying that Kate didn't mention the discussion they'd just finished to him.

"Don't worry." Christian whispered to her as she passed him. "I'll ignore anything she says." How did he always know what she was thinking?

"Christian!" Kate yelled. "Stop distracting her and come and help me wrap fake presents." She was folding a dress of hers and struggling to hold the paper over it. Usually Kate ignored wrapping presents in favour of just throwing them into a bag. It was ironic she was expending more effort on a pretend event than she ever would on a real one. "Remember to take the ring off, Ana!"

Kate had picked a long sleeved navy jersey top for her and a skirt she'd forgotten she owned with overlapping dark and light blue squares and cream which flared. She'd done a good job actually, all the outfits looked like things Ana would pick for herself with slightly more finesse. For once Kate was dressing her and she wouldn't look like a hooker. Kate had probably thought she should look like herself in the pictures so that there was some cohesion between them and real life.

She put the ring in the box on her dresser; she already kind of missed having it on.

She left her room to see Kate chatting away happily to Christian about how she was ready for a life free from men for a while now since she had ended things with Jackson and Matt. Ana wondered if Christian believed her lie but she wasn't about to correct Kate, underneath all her bravado Ana could tell she was actually upset about them ending things with her and she wanted to keep her mind off it. Her eyes opened wide as she saw what Christian was wrapping.

"Please tell me you didn't buy me more jewellery." she said. He shook his head.

"No, they're just Kate's things that she had the boxes for. Don't worry, the ring's all I'll buy you unless you ask for anything." Christian assured her. Ana was absolutely sure she wouldn't be doing that, as nice as the offer was. "I think this is enough presents, don't you?"

"Definitely." Kate agreed, scooping them up and taking them over to the coffee table. "Phones please!" Kate held her hands out for them to give them to her. "Okay, first picture will be you coming in, hands over Ana's eyes to the room."

As they stood in the open doorway, Ana had to resist the giggles she felt coming on at the ridiculousness of this. As instructed, Christian put his hands over her eyes.

"This is crazy…" he whispered, leaning into her and she grinned.

"Take your hands off her eyes now, Christian, Ana, act surprised but super happy." She was close to laughter anyway so it wasn't hard to fake it for the picture.

They took photos of her blowing out candles, of her opening presents, then Kate took one on both of their phones of them with their arms around each other, Ana displaying 'her' necklace. Kate gave Christian his phone so he could take ones that felt a little more 'intimate' which was a word that made Ana feel increasingly uncomfortable, though it melted away when he smiled at her and made a whispered comment about the dictatorial tone Kate kept using with them or how silly it was that they were doing this. There hadn't been one picture where she wasn't actually genuinely smiling.

They changed before they went to meet Mia and Elliot into more summery clothes.

"I've never seen you not in a suit before!" Ana exclaimed, shaking her head when Christian came out of her room in a white t-shirt and washed out jeans. "I just kind of assumed you didn't wear anything else. This is altering my perception of the world."

"What, did you think I slept in a suit? Obviously I wear other things." She shrugged.

"Well I realise that now."

"Excuse me, we have a schedule to keep to!" Kate yelled at them from the door, motioning for them to hurry out.

When they arrived at the park the day took a turn for the worse in the form of Christian's sister Mia. Ana would have been lying if she'd said there was no bitterness towards her for forcing her into this situation in the first place, but also as Christian's friend she was apprehensive of the girl. It was obvious he loved her and he wanted to make her happy and had pretty much forgiven her for forcing him into this fake relationship just so her dirty laundry wouldn't get aired to her parents. Ana might have been willing to forgive all of that if Mia hadn't instantly started screaming at both of them about what they needed to do – sure Kate was bossy but she had for the most part been doing it quietly. Ana mentally apologised for every time she'd blamed Kate for a headache; Mia was the personification of a migraine.

Kate didn't look happy either, in fact she was possibly barked order from Mia away from stamping her feet, claiming it was her special day and ordering Mia to go home. Ana liked Christian's brother a lot more, he was chilled out and had actually said hello to her which earned him points.

"Bit much, isn't it?" Elliot said looking at Mia and Kate who were arguing about where the best light would be. Ana rubbed her temples, trying to relieve the pressure that was building in her head.

"We expected a couple of photos, not this fucking much." Christian said with a sigh.

"Do you think we can just make a run for it now?" Ana asked, biting her lip softly as she watched her friend getting angrier by the second. "Oh, fuck, I better go over, hadn't I?"

"I'll do it Ana, Mia will listen to me." Christian assured her.

"It's cool to meet you anyway, we've never met a girlfriend of Christian's before." Elliot told her with a grin.

"Uh, you know I'm not actually his girlfriend, right?" Ana asked with genuine confusion saturating her voice. "Like, that's why we're taking fake pictures?" Elliot made an 'oh' sound like the puzzle had just come together for him.

"Yeah, I forgot that was why we were here! That's a shame, you two seemed nice together for the few minutes I thought this was legit."

"Thanks, I guess."

"Ana, get your coat off now." Christian told her firmly. She raised her eyebrows at his clipped tone. "Please, Ana, they'll just start arguing again and I don't want you to have to stand out here freezing while they decide which tree we'll look best under."

"Better." Ana teased as she sat down with him on the blanket.

They took most of the pictures this time – heavily guided by Kate of course who positioned their cameras and on several occasions shooed one of them out of the way so she could take it herself when she said they weren't making her 'vision come to life'. Mia was scowling off to the side having been told by Christian that it was Kate's project, not hers. It was like taking two unruly toddlers around and Ana could only envision it getting worse for the rest of the day.

They took the pictures quickly at the front of the restaurant and around the table. Mia and Kate sat on a separate table while they all grabbed something to eat to 'talk' (argue) about what the rest of the shoots would be like – Christian's suggestion so they could get everything sorted before they went to the other places. She was pleased to just sit with Elliot and Christian and chat casually.

She and Christian took a separate car up to the woods where they were hiking having been forced to change in the restaurant bathroom and receiving some odd looks from the waiters who had seen them in three separate outfits in the brief one and a half hour that they'd been there – Ana noted it mentally as somewhere she probably shouldn't try to return to.

It wasn't a long drive but it was more than enough for her to find both their favourite songs on YouTube so they could both hear the songs they'd mentioned the night before.

They both looked at the car the others were in as they drove into the car park. Elliot seemed fine, asleep against the window in the back seat he'd been relegated to, but Mia and Kate appeared to still be arguing in the two front seats. It was possible they'd carried on from where they'd left off in the restaurant or that this was something entirely new. Ana and Christian shared a slightly helpless look at the thought of being stuck with them for a whole hike.

"We didn't look in the car, we thought they must have already been up there." Christian said slowly. Ana nodded and they both covertly got out of the car, making sure to shut the doors quietly and not alert the attention of Mia and Kate towards them.

"Elliot said the funniest thing while you were sorting Mia and Kate out at the park, he completely forgot this whole relationship thing was fake, you know, despite the fact we were there to stage fake pictures." Ana told Christian as they walked up the trail. He laughed and shook his head. "Seriously, he even told me what a nice couple we made."

"Oh my God, I'm sorry about him… Not the brightest in the world, but he is a good guy."

"I'm surprised Kate hasn't tried to get her claws into your brother yet." Ana commented. "He's definitely her type, he has a six pack and a heartbeat."

"Me too from what you've told me about her. She doesn't even seem to have noticed he's here."

"She did seem kind of weird when we got to our apartment this morning… I know she told you about her boyfriends, but she actually didn't break up with them, they ended things with her. I think it messed with her a little more than she's letting on, I think that's why Mia's getting to her so badly at the moment. She's giving her someone to yell at and Kate needs an outlet. I am sorry she's being like that with your sister, it's a little off."

"Don't worry, Mia deserves to be yelled at sometimes." Christian saw a bench and gestured in the direction of it. Ana nodded and they went to sit down, a beautiful view of pine trees and slightly orange light from the beginning of the sunset. It went through Ana's mind that it was a pretty romantic setting before she pushed the thought as far away as she could make it go. "Don't take this as me trying to confront you, but you don't seem to like Mia too much either."

"Do you want me to be honest?" Ana asked tentatively. He nodded. "It's not that I dislike her - I just get the sense she uses you, and I can't say for sure obviously but I get the feeling forcing you into some crazy fake relationship isn't the first time she's used you to cover her own back. I know you love her but I don't think family shouldn't be like that."

"I've spoken to her about it. She's really immature, that's where it comes from. The other day when she said all the stuff to my Mom about this, something really changed… It felt a lot more malicious – not deliberately, I don't think she's like that but it was cruel and done entirely because she wanted to save her own skin. I love her, she's my sister, but I'd be lying if I said that hadn't really changed things between us. I'm just waiting until this all blows over and then I'm going to try and talk to her about it properly when I'm not seething with anger about the whole thing. I've made in a lot of excuses for her over the years but she's twenty one. She needs to grow up at some point."

"I think it's good that you see all that. It's obvious you love her, I think if you explain it calmly then she seems like she'd listen to you."

"I hope so. I don't want it to get to a point where she says something one day or does something that damages our relationship beyond repair." Ana stayed quiet in case he wanted to say more but he sighed loudly like he was clearing himself of what he'd just said and turned to her with a grin now on his face. "Let's take these pictures in case they locate us so we can go home, huh?" Ana nodded taking out her phone so they could begin.

They'd been up there about twenty minutes when they were interrupted by arguing voices coming up the path loudly, Mia and Kate of course, coming to a halt when they saw Ana and Christian. The pair smiled at the two girls who were clearly not getting along any better. Ana hoped nothing in her face gave away that they'd just finished conversing about both of them. Christian and Ana got up from the bench to talk to them.

"Where's Elliot?" Christian asked Mia.

"Staying in the car, he said he didn't want to listen to us arguing – which we aren't doing, we're having a discussion." Mia insisted. Ana raised her eyebrows, it was a lot louder than any discussion that she had ever taken part in it but the one thing they didn't seem to be bickering about was calling it a discussion so Ana decided to let it go. "Why did you two come up on your own?"

"We thought you were up here." Ana lied, Christian nodding in agreement next to her. "We've taken all our pictures because we were worried we might lose the light."

"We were just about to head back." Christian added.

"All that discussion for nothing." Kate sighed as they began to make their way back down the path to the cars.


	10. Chapter 10

Mia and Kate had found a way to bond once they had arrived at Christian's house, unfortunately for Ana it was over how hopeless she was.

"Ana's worn the same Scarlett O'Hara Halloween costume for the past three years. I tried to hide it this year but she found it. And she said if I tried to do it again she'd go as Glen Close in Fatal Attraction and scare off any guys I was trying to chat up." Kate complained, having flung herself on the sofa between shoots. Ana was supposed to have dressed up as little red riding hood but after Kate had showed her the costume last night and how little fabric it was made from she'd decided to go in a different direction. Kate was stood behind her as she sat on a chair, curling her hair as tightly as she could.

Kate was dressed as a generic Halloween styles nurse, you know, the kind that you would never trust as a legitimate medical professional because of the copious amounts of lipstick and cleavage they displayed. Mia was a flapper, wearing a dress that Ana was actually quite jealous of.

"What are you supposed to be?" Mia asked Ana, squinting her eyes as though that would help her to determine it.

"She's the brunette one from Abba." Christian informed her as he walked into the room.

"Yeah, from the Waterloo video!" Ana exclaimed, pleased he'd got the reference. "I wanted to go with an inside joke. I had the skirt and shirt already, Kate spent the morning improving them so they looked more like the video."

"I did state my objection first. Now nobody's going to get what Christian's meant to be." Kate complained. Ana looked at him in the other half of the paired costume Kate had wanted them to be in, dressed as the huntsman from red riding hood. "He just looks like a lumberjack now."

"I think it's better than us being perfectly matched." Christian assured her. "Now we'll have a story to tell. Kate, you should have been the blonde one."

"Oh my God, next year me, you, Elliot, and Kate should go as the whole group, it would be amazing!" She insisted with bright wide eyes, grinning as she imagined it.

"That's the worst idea ever…Let's definitely do it."

"Can you two please stop planning how geeky you're going to be in the future and let me take your pictures?" Kate asked. "Elliot must have finished decorating by now." Kate appeared to be feeling better since she was getting along with Mia which had involved her begging Elliot to put on a Captain America costume because he would look 'just like Chris Evans' (which Ana didn't see at all) and then ordering him to decorate the lounge she was now marching them into. "It looks amazing!" she exclaimed. "Okay so we're going to do a few just these two then some when Mia and Elliot 'arrive'. Remember when you tell people about these pictures Christian you only introduced Ana as a friend, you know to see how Mia and Elliot liked her." He nodded.

Kate snapped a few pictures where they had arms linked around each other; Ana was loathe to admit it but it felt more comfortable than it had at any other point during the day, like she was completely used to it now.

"You guys should really be kissing in one." Mia suggested. "Couples always have a super cheesy picture of themselves kissing in Halloween costumes." Kate nodded in agreement.

"Commit to the role, guys."

"We've already told you we aren't doing that." Ana said irritably. Kate had tried to get them to kiss at every location they'd been to that day and Ana couldn't tell if she was genuinely just that committed to taking the fake pictures or if she was not so subtly trying to force them together. Ana reasoned that it was likely a little of both.

"You need to practice. Don't you think it's going to look weird that you two don't touch at all?"

"We're fine." Ana insisted even though actually she'd been worrying about that all day and was meaning to say something to Christian about it when they were finally left alone by everyone. Kate shook her head.

"You're fine for friends, sure. That," she gestured between them "is not the body language of two people who are going to get married."

"How would you know, you've never had a serious relationship in your life." Ana said, trying not to clench her jaw. This whole day had been completely exhausting. The annoying thing was that she knew Kate was right and she hated when Kate was right. They had the pictures and the engagement ring but their language read friends – screamed it actually, to anyone who was paying attention.

"Stop being grumpy." Kate scolded her.

"One won't hurt, Ana." Christian assured her, earning a glare from her for agreeing with Kate over her, his fake fiancée.

"Fine." she huffed, turning around. She didn't look at him for too long before she pushed her lips against his, she would have chickened out unquestionably. His lips were soft and delicious and she had to stand on her tiptoes a bit to reach them. She hated how nicely they fit together, how she almost forgot where she was when his hand went into her hair to pull her closer. She broke away when she heard the phone camera click and cleared her throat with a little 'ahem', sure she was bright red now.

"Shall we do the ones with all of us now?" she asked, desperate to evade talking about what she'd just done, completely unable to look Christian in the eye. She'd been hoping at the end of this they could go back to being friends but how could they when she knew that sometimes she might remember just how good a kisser he was? God, why had she ever agreed to this?

Kate took Mia and Elliot to the front door to get a few of them on their own and Ana stood a little awkwardly touching her arm.

"Sorry I agreed to that." Christian said. She'd almost forgotten he was still standing there. "I really just thought it would be easier for us both to just agree. They're a bit tenacious when it comes to their ideas." Ana smiled weakly.

"It's fine. Today's just been a lot. And I'm a bit worried that –" Ana was cut off by Mia shouting for them both and she shrugged like what she'd been going to say didn't matter.

They only took a few pictures with all three of them before Kate declared everything was complete and started sorting the pictures into the right order on their phones.

"Elliot says he has to work but Kate and I are going to a bar now, do you two want to come?" Mia asked Christian and Ana excitedly. They shared a look which wondered how two people who had apparently hated each other not three hours earlier were not excitedly going to a bar together.

"Well I need to clear all the decorations out of my lounge…"

"And I think I might stay here and help Christian tidy all the Halloween decorations up, but thanks for the offer." Ana said, sporting the most fake smile she had ever worn. Christian nodded apologetically like he'd have loved to spend the evening with the two of them. They shot off pretty quickly when cleaning up was mentioned, their commitment to the photoshoot clearly only extending to taking the pictures and not sorting things out afterward. "Where do you want me to start with this then?" Ana asked, looking around the fake cobwebs splayed over everything and all the tacy wall decorations Kate had pinned up.

"Oh, don't worry about that, let's have a drink first. Red or white wine."

"White please." Ana said as she followed him into the kitchen. He poured himself an average sized glass and handed her the bottle. She poured close to what he had before thinking the better of it and filling it nearly to the top with wine. He grinned at her but after the stress of the day he wasn't going to question it.

"What were you going to say earlier?"

"I was just thinking… Kate was right earlier, crazy as that might seem." Ana said as she took a sip from the glass she had definitely poured too much wine into. "We don't read as a couple at all."

"We'll just say you're uncomfortable with public displays of affection."

"I'm not talking about suddenly starting making out in front of her, I mean little things that every couple does even the ones that hate being physically affectionate, like… fuck, I don't know… couples touch each other without thinking and sit close and put their arms around each other and give each other loving looks when the other person says something they like… We don't do any of that."

"My other knows I'm not a touchy-feely kind of guy. I promise, it'll be fine." His attempts to reassure her were just exasperating her further.

"Me neither but no couple would get to the point where they were engaged and not do at least some of that stuff, it's not about conscious affection, it's little things that people do without even realising because they love each other." Christian looked like he suddenly realised he was right and they sat silently for a moment. Ana was now absolutely paranoid they would be called out on it when they went to meet his mother.

"Fuck it." Christian said suddenly, taking his phone out. "We're going to the bar with Kate and Mia, we're going to spend the entire night acting like a couple, and you have to commit like this is a part in a movie that's going to win you a fucking Oscar." Ana groaned internally at the thought of spending more time with Mia and Kate than she already had that day but it was admittedly a pretty good idea. Nobody would be looking at them in a bar, too many other people around, they'd hopefully blend like any other couple and for all their faults Kate and Mia were outspoken enough to tell them if they looked forced. She contemplated for a moment exactly how much alcohol she would need to ingest to not be incredibly uncomfortable with this and how hungover she'd be tomorrow.

"Alright, call Mia. I'll go put some lipstick on and try and brush out my semi-perm."

They told Mia and Kate their plan when they got there.

"The point is for us to act like a couple." Christian informed them. "So keep your distance and we'll get your evaluations at the end of the night." It was a nice way around spending any time with them while still getting feedback.

They sat a lot closer than they usually with, tilted so their knees touched slightly. At one point he'd slung an arm around her shoulders and she'd gotten uncontrollable giggles for a few moments which made her even more glad that they were doing this now – she imagined being around his mother and having that reaction to something would have spelled disaster for them both.

"I want to dance."

"You'll break your ankle in those heels." Christian warned her. She was a lot tipsier than he was at this point since as well as the drinks he'd bought for them both she had downed the glass of wine she had back at his apartment and done two rounds of shots with Mia and Kate while he'd been in the bathroom. "Besides, I don't dance."

"Couples do though!" she reminded him with a grin like she'd found the best loophole in the world even though it was just an obvious statement. "It'll be fun!"

He leant in close like he was going to kiss her neck at one point and she just about melted. She was completely lost in a haze of whiskey and coke and music which thudded through her body and him pressed comfortably against her as they danced more and more confidently together. She was just about to say something about how she felt like they'd have much less of a problem on Friday when she was sure she saw somebody take a picture of them.

"Was that a camera flash?" she asked a little worriedly. He laughed and spun her around so she was facing him now.

"Relax, it'll be Kate or Mia, nobody else is taking a picture of us. It's nothing to worry about." he assured her. She knew it was delusional to allow him to sway her way of thinking, knowing her luck they'd be plastered on the front of some newspaper by tomorrow morning and she'd have to face all the whispers at work about screwing the boss – not that people didn't already think that about them sometimes.

"That's easy for you to say. You're used to your privacy being invaded."

"Stop being paranoid." He laced his hands with hers and she forgot instantly what she'd been complaining about. "Let's get another drink, yeah?" She nodded and he led her by their still linked hands back to their table. Being as Kate and Mia hadn't intervened yet, Ana assumed they must have been doing a pretty good job of acting like a couple.

Ana awoke the next morning in a very unfamiliar room when the latter part of the night flooded back to her. Mia and Kate had left, neither of them having much residual motor skills after the amount of alcohol they'd ingested. Kate had fiddled around with her bag which Ana had thought was weird but she didn't think to say anything. When they left Ana realised she no longer had keys and, gentleman that he was, Christian had offered her a spare bedroom. At least she assumed it was spare. Yes they'd spent the whole night acting like a couple and yes, she was loathe to admit it but she had actually enjoyed it but she hoped the line had been drawn at them actually sleeping next to each other. That felt like an unnecessary line to cross. The other side of the bed looked mercifully untouched and Ana reached out to grab her phone off the end table next to the bed. One new message.

Kate Kavanaugh 07:18: Welcome to the world of being tabloid news! At least you can't see your face!

Ana opened the attachment to an article 'Christian Grey Engaged to Mystery Brunette?' Her hair was about the only recognisable thing in the picture as luckily her head was tilted so all her features were hidden. Christian was easily visible, as was the engagement ring on her finger which she knew she shouldn't have worn out. It was all Christian's fault for getting her a ring she felt unable to part with for more than a few seconds.

Christian was already awake in the kitchen when she went down and the bright lights made her wince. She'd definitely had a bit too much to drink the night before, it was the second time that week she'd gone into work hungover. She'd only been 'engaged' to her boss a few days and she was already ridding herself of any notions of professionalism.

"There was a photographer there last night." Ana said triumphantly, glad she had been right even if her photo had been taken and it was only by pure luck they had managed not to capture her face in the picture. She handed Christian her phone so he could see the pictures that Kate had sent her the link to, he looked almost amused rather than annoyed.

"At least they didn't get any of us staging those photos yesterday, that would have looked a lot worse. " he told her.

"I'm only pointing it out because we should be more careful, I really don't want this to become a whole thing – imagine the nightmare we'd have at work - and I forget how famous you are around here and that you being overly handsy with a girl at a bar wearing a ring is going to actually be newsworthy. It's really lucky they missed my face, Christian, it could have easily gone the other way and that would have caused a lot more problems." He ignored the majority of what she said in favour of the one remark that had bothered him.

"Overly handsy?" he asked, sounding almost offended. She tapped on the screen with her nail to a picture where she was pulled right into him and his hands were splayed over the front of her body. "It's a misleading picture."

"Camera doesn't lie." Ana kept her tone jovial so he'd know she didn't really mind – last thing she wanted him to think was that she was going to dump some kind of lawsuit on him when she'd just been making a bad joke. He caught her tone and grinned at her, taking a sip of his coffee before he shrugged and looked at her with mischievous eyes.

"You weren't complaining last night."


	11. Chapter 11

Ana was texting Kate for most of breakfast, using her connections to check that nowhere had managed to get a shot of her face. She was anxious enough to have her lip between her teeth for most of breakfast which was a detail that Christian noticed for two unrelated reasons. One was that while she was doing it she was clearly not eating which forced him to resist the urge to lecture her – he did make a mental note to call her out for being a hypocrite the next time she scolded him for skipping lunch because he was too busy. The other reason, the one he was trying not to allow to be a conscious thought in his mind, was that she looked incredibly pretty when she did it, and watching her was killing him.

"Everything seems okay." Ana announced after a while, setting her phone on the table, the movement causing the shoulder of her top to slip down her arm. "Kate said they just might get a little more vicious now." She sounded so nervous at that it immediately ignited an Alpha male desire in him to protect her which he was sure she wouldn't appreciate.

"I won't let that happen." He assured her. She looked dubious but he was already thinking of what he could do to stop them going near her again. He'd devote the entire morning to it if he had to. "Now will you please eat something?" he asked her. She rolled her eyes and looked reluctantly at the croissant on the plate in front of her. She tore the smallest piece off possible and swallowed it slowly like she was worried it was poisoned. "Really, Ana?"

"Sorry, I just hate eating the second I get up, and I still have residual nerves that my Dad did see something and he's just worried about asking about it. Besides, croissants are too buttery and the taste of butter makes me feel nauseous."

"Are you always this picky when it comes to what you eat? Should I call my mother and warn her that you eat like a child?" Part of him was teasing her, part of him was genuinely concerned. She pulled a face at him.

Ana had mentioned to him once that her morning routine was to drink a cup of tea before she went to work and that usually instead of making something to eat for breakfast she listened to soft music and tried not to fall asleep at the kitchen counter. He had voiced at the time that music was not a suitable substitute for actual food but she'd just laughed at him instead of taking the advice seriously as he had intended for her to.

"I'll eat whatever you Mom makes obviously – well, I will unless it has raisins in it."

"You need to look after yourself."

"I do. I'm an adult, remember, I've kept myself alive so far." She didn't sound as annoyed as he thought she would that he was worrying about her. "I know why you're being like this, it's because the pictures bothered you and you don't want to let on that you're worried." She was incredibly accurate with her deduction. She knew him too well. "And because it comes out of genuine concern for me I will not only not get annoyed at you for lecturing me but also I'll eat this." She grabbed a pomegranate out of the fruit bowl on the centre of the counter and sliced it in half. "On the condition that you never lecture me about food again. You're the opposite of my mother, at home whenever I used to go into the kitchen – literally it could be the first time I'd eaten all day – and she'd just smile and ask 'are you sure you need to eat that Ana'? Just one of the many ways she liked to torment me." She pressed her lips together in a way that he'd learnt over the years was her indication that she'd said too much, like she was physically shutting her mouth so nothing else could escape. It was also how he knew not to say anything after; she wanted no more conversation on the subject. "We might need to make it a take-out breakfast anyway, I don't want to be too late into the office in case people see us coming in together."

"Are you ashamed of me?" he asked in a mock-offended tone. She laughed.

"I think if either of us was going to be ashamed of the other, it would be you being ashamed of me being as I fall over something most days and sometimes accidentally lie about having children. Which, speaking of, remember you're meeting Melissa today at ten."

"Melissa's the one who thinks you have children?" Christian asked in disbelief. Melissa was the head of his accounts department who he regularly met with to discuss new businesses he wanted to buy or how well those he had bought were doing financially. "I assumed this was just someone who you saw every few months, not someone who comes in once a week?"

"I don't want to talk about it!" Ana exclaimed, shaking her head. "I have to think enough about it when I get into work, I'll spend most of the morning worrying about it." He was trying very hard not to laugh at her and refrained from reminding her that it was her own fault and any normal person would have just said they misspoke rather than creating an entire alternative life. "Still, I suppose this lie takes away from me stressing out about meeting your parents tomorrow." He was glad she could take her mind off that even if it involved revising tales of her other lie so she didn't get caught out.

He only noticed once they were in his car that she wasn't really dressed for work – she'd pulled together the red skirt from her fake Halloween outfit and a tank top and hardly looked dressed for the office. He voiced this concern to her which she brushed off easily enough.

"I'll just change when I get there." she said nonchalantly. Christian frowned.

"You keep clothes at the office?" he asked, genuinely curious. Ana's face paled a little and she pressed her lips together. He looked at her scrutinising, wondering what she was trying not to tell him this time. She fidgeted in her seat uncomfortably.

"Oh you know, in case I spill something. I spill things on myself all the time." Christian didn't doubt that but he did question it as to the reason. He said nothing more, determined to find out what she was hiding when they got to the office.

When they got up to their floor Ana made a beeline to sit at her desk, obviously waiting for him to go into his office which he didn't. He looked at her expectantly.

"I thought you were changing?"

"Fine!" she exclaimed, clearly irritated he'd remembered though he had no idea for the life of him why she was acting so oddly, he was determined to find out. She took a key out of her desk and used it to unlock the door behind the desk. Ana opened the door the smallest amount she could which instantly aroused his suspicion even more before he caught a glimpse of what was inside when she switched the light on and pushed the door open to see for himself what she was hiding.

"Ana, what the fuck is this?" he asked with a furrowed brow. At least she had the decency to look embarrassed by it, nibbling on her thumbnail awkwardly as he gawped at the sight in front of him. The room had stored a huge photocopier and rows of filing cabinets when he'd bought the building and been empty for year after they'd switched to smaller models. He'd assumed Ana used it for filing like his last personal assistant had. Instead the room was stuffed full of a ridiculous amount of objects including rails of clothes and a variety of handbags as well as other objects he was sure she could have no purpose for. "Is that a cello?"

"A few months after I started working here Kate and I started running out of space in the apartment and I happened to mention this room existed and she asked if I could store some stuff here. The filing cabinets had just been taken out so I knew no-one would need it. It just sort of spiralled from there."

"Why do you have a cello?"

"Well it's Kate's actually, not mine, she used to play it when she lived at home with her parents but there's not really room for it now, she took up the violin instead but she didn't want to give it away."

"There's more stuff in here than your actual apartment." She looked at him with innocently wide bright blue eyes.

"I'm sorry, I know you're angry with me, I promise I'll move it all, it just got a bit out of hand. I didn't realise how much stuff there was until now, I just sort of kept bringing it when Kate asked and we were always going to move somewhere bigger and we never did and so it all just stayed here. Please don't be annoyed."

"I'm not angry… I just can't believe you never told me."

He wasn't angry. He had been in the first few seconds but after that he was just surprised and truthfully more than a little amused. Who cared about the repurposing of one room in a building with hundreds? There must have been more than a few empty and he expected Ana wasn't the only one of his employees who had taken advantage of one, although he doubted very many of them used it as storage for a cello and other large things. No, he was more surprised because he'd just realised how at odds him being friends with her and him being her boss were. If Ana was purely a friend he expected she would have told him a long time ago – but he was her boss and so certain things had to be kept secret from him.

The thought of working every day without Ana was a bleak one but he valued her a lot more as a genuine friend than just someone who would make the workday more bearable. He just had to work out what to do about it. He couldn't fire her; even if she burnt the building down he'd have a hard time looking into her eyes and telling her to leave. He just needed to find her a better option…

"I promise I'll move it all." Ana said, snapping him out of his train of thought.

"And put it where?" he queried. She looked thoughtful for a minute and then slightly defeated when she obviously came up blank. "You can keep it here, you are after all owed eternal favours from me. Just don't tell anyone else."

"Really?" she smiled brightly. Jesus, why was that affecting him so much at the moment? Today and yesterday all the times she'd smiled at him had just about melted him, leaving him wondering what to do so she'd do it again. He was getting a bit overinvested in making her happy.

"Yes, really. Now get changed and start revising your fake children."

When he got into his office Christian ran his hands back through his hair before he sat his head in his hands, trying to muffle the audible groan he emitted with them. Two weeks ago if he'd found out about that, even from Ana, he would have been furious that she hadn't at least asked if it was okay. Now it was just another quirky thing Ana was doing that he found endearing. He blamed her eyes – they were hypnotic and betrayed every emotion she was feeling instantly. He just couldn't look at her being sad anymore, he felt in like he was being punched in the chest when she was.

"Pull yourself together." he whispered to himself, shaking his head trying to snap himself out of it. It didn't work. He was consumed by thoughts of dancing with her last night, the covertly flirtatious tone he wondered if she even picked up that he was using sometimes that he only caught himself using in the middle of a sentence, that fucking kiss she'd given him yesterday that he was supposed to pretend didn't matter… Ana certainly hadn't given any indication that it had the same effect on her that it had on him, she just looked mortified it happened and presumably pushed it out of her mind. The worst part was that they only person he couldn't speak about it to was the one person he wanted to.

He must have spent an hour just sitting there telling himself he didn't have feelings for her because she rang to tell him Melissa was there and she'd brought her kids again. He could hear the strain in her voice and tried not to laugh at her predicament. He gave her a smile when he went out to greet Melissa, she already looked frazzled and he decided that instead of the usual half an hour meeting he had with her he'd pad it out with questions both professional and personal – Melissa was good at her job but if talking was an Olympic sport she'd be a gold medallist. He'd forgiven Ana for the storage room mostly but she deserved a little reminder not to do it again, he thought. They'd overrun by about forty-five minutes when she eventually remembered Ana and her children and hurried out.

"Hope they didn't give you too much trouble!" Melissa said half-sympathetically. "But you know what it's like! At least you've only got two!" Ana nodded, seemingly too exhausted by their presence to answer with a real sentence.

"Was that payback for the closest?" Ana asked, nodding behind her. He wasn't sure it could quite be called a closet given how much stuff was in there but he let it go. He grinned at her and shrugged his shoulders.

"We just had a lot to talk about." he lied. Ana glared at him, reading straight away that he wasn't telling the truth.

He didn't allow himself to spend the rest of the day moping about her – he was probably just reading thing that weren't there because they'd spent a lot of time together recently, that would be what this was. He didn't even think about it that evening when his apartment felt so much emptier than it had when she'd been there that morning, and the next day he was too busy worrying about her meeting his mother to think about anything else which was for the best. The only moment he remembered what he was trying hard to forget was when he exited his office at one point and saw her cradling her face with one hand, reading something thoughtfully, tapping the finger wearing the engagement ring against her cheek and he forgot for a second that she was only wearing it to play a part.

The evening rolled around quickly; they'd agreed to go straight from work.

"Ana?" Christian called out as he exited his office, not seeing her at the desk or around anywhere. He was sure he'd heard her out here talking just a few minutes ago and she couldn't possibly have forgotten that she was meant to be leaving with him, right? God, had she been scared being so close to actually doing it that she'd taken off and gone home? He had his phone in his hand so he found her number quickly and rang it, surprised when the muffled sound of her ringtone (Teenage Kicks by The Undertones, not what he'd expected at all) came from inside her 'closet'. He pushed the door open and found her sitting on the floor with tears rolling down her cheeks. Instantly without even asking what was wrong he sat next to her and put an arm around her.

"Tell me what's wrong?" he asked her softly.

"It's my mom. As always, playing the victim, this time because I won't go to her wedding." Ana sighed and he pulled her a little closer like he was trying to protect her from an invisible force. "She called me a 'fucking robot with no emotions' which is what she used to say when I lived with her and it just all came back and I needed a minute." She'd stopped crying now but she looked on the verge of breaking again.

"What can I do?"

"I think I need to let it out… There's something I didn't think I'd ever say. If I just tell you everything can it not leave this room? I don't mean like, in terms of you never mentioning it again, just don't tell anyone else."

"Of course I wouldn't." Christian was a little horrified that she even needed to ask, although it was likely just for peace of mind rather than because she actually believed he was going to gossip about it, at least he hoped so. Ana took a deep breath before she launched into her tale.

"My Mom married my step-dad when I was only a year old. He was always like my real dad, always my favourite parent over her. When I was nearly six, she left him for this other guy she'd been seeing. We all lived in Maine at the time and she was moving with him to Arizona. She wanted me to go with her but I kicked up a big fuss about being taken away from my dad and in the end she let me stay because this new guy she was marrying didn't like kids that much anyway.

"I spent a couple of weeks every summer with her. She didn't like having me particularly and I didn't like being there. I remember commenting once when I was eleven maybe that I didn't like that she had a different husband every time I went and her slapping me and making me lie to my dad that I'd fallen over and caused this magically handprint shaped mark to appear on my face. So when I was fourteen she demanded I spent a month with her and she'd just got married another time so I said to my dad I wasn't going anymore. He said it was my decision because he knew how much I hated being there and called her up that night. He said that maybe she should get to know me a bit more before expecting me to spend so much time with her and invited her to come and see us which she did but so she could take him to court and demand that I come and live with her.

"She's good at manipulation. She had this jury eating out of her palm, the new husband was rich so he'd paid for a good lawyer, dad never stood a chance. The day she cried on the stand I started packing because I knew she was going to win – and she did. I was carted off to Florida about a week later.

"I didn't even complain, I just shut off completely. The only time I showed any emotion was when ray called and even then I held it together because I didn't want him to feel guilty that I had to be there. She hated that; I think she wanted me to kick and scream so she could kid herself I was a terrible child and she had a real reason to hate me. After I'd been there about a year and a half she banned me from calling Ray, trying to incite some rage I think. I managed a few months only speaking to him when he rang but this one time he said 'you never call anymore, Annie, do you not like speaking to me' and it just killed me, all these emotions I'd shut out just came in like a dam burst and suddenly before I knew what I was doing I was in the bathroom swallowing pills. I didn't want to die, nothing so dramatic, I just needed to shut off for a few minutes and get back to a place where I could deal with things.

"I was only unconscious a couple of minutes before she found me. She didn't even go to the hospital with me, just sent me off in the ambulance and gave Ray a message I was to go back and live with him again because she didn't want a 'problem child'. I was happier pretty much instantly but I never forgot that she'd done that to me. She just uses it like a weapon now, like she was the victim somehow. It just gets a bit overwhelming to remember how unhappy I was, that she's the one who made me feel like that. She's my mother, she was supposed to look after me."

"I'm so sorry you went through that." Christian said genuinely, at a loss for anything else to say. He took her hand in his and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "We have shitty, abusive mothers in common." She was opening her mouth to argue her mother wasn't abusive, he could feel it and shook his head to silence her before she'd begun. "I know you don't see it as abuse, but Ana, anyone who treats their child that was is emotionally abusive. She still is, clearly, since she rings you up and tries to make you feel guilty about her not being a part of your life."

"I know." She looked up at him and forced a smile for a second before her face turned to one of confusion. "You said we have it in common?"

"Not Grace, if that's what you're thinking. I probably should have mentioned it to you before, I don't really think of it as something to tell people – I'm adopted. I'll tell you about my birth mother at some point." He actually meant it. The only reason he wasn't telling her that second was because he didn't want her worrying about him when she should be concentrating on forgetting her awful mother and feeling better.

"Speaking of, we're going to be late if we keep sitting here." Ana said as she got up. Christian noticed she'd changed into a purple dress. "Let me just run to the bathroom and fix my makeup." He didn't know how she managed to go from heartbreakingly upset one second to fine by all appearances the next. She'd probably had a lot of practice over the years if that was what her mother was like.

"Take your time, I'll text and say we hit traffic, she's so excited to meet you that I don't think she'd mind if we arrived tomorrow, let alone a few minutes late."

"I don't care, it's not polite!"

She only spent about five minutes fixing her appearance, during which time he was imagining all the ways he could force Ana's mother to leave her alone forever so she was never upset by her again.

"I'm quite looking forward to this, actually." Ana admitted as they exited the building together. "After all that, it feels like a nice thing to be doing. I hope I can get your mother to show me your childhood pictures." He knew she was teasing but also that there was a significant chance that Grace would break out the family photo albums and coo proudly over him as a child while he tried not to die of embarrassment. "Also music shotgun."

"What's music shotgun?"

"Just means I get to pick all the music."

"You definitely just made that up." Ana huffed indignantly but didn't argue. Still, he wanted her to be cheered up and if that meant listening to Lua by Bright Eyes on repeat for the entire journey then he was willing to be accommodating.


	12. Chapter 12

The drive to Christian's parents' house felt like it went on for hours and the longer it went on, the bigger the knot in Ana's stomach seemed to feel. She wasn't sure if it was more or less pressure than meeting his parents in a fake relationship than it would be in a real one; on one hand at least if they didn't like her she never had to see them again, on the other hand if they didn't like her then all the work was for nothing and Christian would probably be even more stressed about his mother. She voiced this to him in the car between his complaints that she had the same song on repeat for the whole journey.

"Why do you think they won't like you?" he asked which gave her genuine pause for thought.

"It's just what people worry about, isn't it? I mean, I've never met anyone's parents like this before. And what if they like one of your old girlfriends better than me and they spend the whole time comparing me to her."

"They've never met a girlfriend of mine before, so don't worry about that. You'd have to be pretty bad not to be an improvement over nothing." Ana pulled a face at him.

"You're hilarious. But seriously, you've never taken a girlfriend home before? Well, I suppose technically you still aren't… That does make it a lot easier though, you're right. No comparisons to live up to."

"Just don't lie about having children and you'll be fine." Christian told her again. He kept joking about it which kept making her worry that she was accidentally going to say she did if the conversation went quiet for too long. "Honestly, I don't think you have anything to worry about. I mentioned you were a bit shy sometimes and if you're getting really uncomfortable just tap me on the arm or squeeze my hand or something to let me know and I'll offer to show you the boathouse or something so you can get some air. But I promise, you'll be fine, they'll be so excited that you actually exist that they probably won't even notice what you're like." He started driving slightly slower and Ana's eyes widened as she saw what they were approaching.

"That's where your parents live?" The house was huge and she felt immediately even more nervous. "Please don't let me near any fancy objects because I will fall on top of a vase or something and that really isn't going to make a good impression."

"I was just about to warn you not to break anything."

"Not helping!"

They exited the car and immediately once he was alongside her he snaked an arm around her waist and led her up to the front door where before he could even knock it was flung open to reveal the woman Ana assumed was his mother.

"Hello! You must be Ana, I'm Grace." she said, ignoring her son in favour of ushering her inside the house so she could look at her properly. Grace smiled warmly as she gave Ana a quick hug before releasing her. "It's so lovely to meet you, of course Christian had told us next to nothing about you, he only told us you were even together a few days ago!" Ana was quite positive about the night up until this point; Grace seemed like a talker so she hoped she could just sit back and allow her to speak while she appeared interested. Of course what Grace said next shattered this illusion. "We can't wait to hear all about you!" Ana had to try very hard to keep the smile on her face.

"Grace, why don't you show Ana to the lounge so she can sit down before you bombard her with questions?" Ana spotted an older man walking down from the kitchen to where they were stood in the hallway and assumed by the way he lay a hand on Grace's shoulder that this was Christian's father. "I'm Carrick, it's a pleasure to meet you, Ana." He reached out and shook her hand firmly. "Can I get you a drink?"

"A glass of white wine would be lovely, if you don't mind." Ana asked. He nodded and turned to his son expectantly.

"Just water thanks Dad, I've got to drive us both home."

"Don't be silly!" Grace exclaimed. "You two can just stay here, it'll be far too late to drive back by the time we're finished." Ana wondered just how many questions they were going to ask her; the fact Grace was planning on running until late at night didn't seem hopeful. "And we would really love you to stay, Christian." He looked at Ana questioningly and she could almost feel him thinking the same as her, that they both wished they could go off for a few minutes and come up with a good reason not to stay, but there was nothing that sprung to mind immediately and Ana found herself nodding.

"That's so kind of you to offer." she said with a smile. Grace looked delighted. She told herself it was only a few extra hours, she could deal with that.

"In that case I'll take the same, thanks Dad."

Grace led them into the lounge which to Ana's horror contained a huge amount of objects she could potentially break as though it were some kind of obstacle course they had laid out in preparation for her arrival. She felt Christian's arm tighten a little and she knew he was clocking the same expensive looking lamp perched on a very thin table which was definitely something she wouldn't be going within three feet of just in case she stumbled.

"So, what have you two been up to this week?" Not much, Ana thought, mostly just meeting up so we could straighten out this lie, staged photoshoots, normal things.

"I took her out to dinner to meet Mia and Elliot." Christian responded before she had a chance. "Where are they anyway, I thought we were late and they'd already be here."

"Elliot was having a bit of trouble at work so he asked if he could come tomorrow instead to see us and well, you know how Mia can be a little full on, she doesn't like people paying attention to anyone else and I wanted tonight to be about us meeting Ana without interruptions so I asked if she'd come tomorrow too." Ana could see that was probably true, Mia did seem like the kind of person who needed attention like a real life Tinkerbell although with everything Christian had told her about what Mia was getting up to recently she imagined that wouldn't have been as true as it usually was. After all, the whole fake relationship had been her idea. "I told a little fib and said you two were coming tomorrow as well so she wouldn't insist on coming tonight." Ana thought immediately that even though Grace looked guilty it was not the worst lie one of the people in that room had told recently. "I hope you don't mind."

"Of course not." Ana assured her. It might have been nice to have Mia and Elliot there, at least they were familiar, but truthfully she was still recovering from the long day she'd spent with Mia earlier in the week and was a little relieved she wouldn't be exhausted by her presence again tonight. "I've seen Mia twice anyway, as well as the dinner we went out with her and my friend Kate."

"Was that where they were taking pictures of you?" Grace asked as her husband walked into the room and passed them their drinks. Ana nodded. "We said, didn't we, usually Christian's so worried about these people taking his photograph, it's nice that he can relax with you."

"Perks of being engaged, I suppose." Christian commented.

"Do you mind if I see the ring?" Grace asked. Ana smiled warmly.

"Not at all." She got up and walked to where she was sitting and held her hand out. Grace took it delicately and admired it in a similar way to how Ana had when she'd first seen it.

"Oh it's beautiful. Carrick, have you seen it?" As Grace pulled Ana's hand over to her husband so her could look at it too (although Ana assumed he would be significantly less interested than his wife was) Ana looked over her shoulder to see Christian smirking. He raised his eyebrows at her and mouthed 'they love you'. Ana blushed slightly and grinned at him. This was going rather well so far, she didn't even feel that nervous. Grace was exuberant but she was a lovely person and Carrick balanced her out a little so Ana felt less like she was being attacked on all fronts. Ana went and sat back down next to Christian.

"How long have you two been together?" Carrick asked them, the first indication Ana got that he might actually be as excited to meet her as his wife was.

"Over six months now, we got together right before my birthday." His father nodded.

"The funny thing was we actually had been on a date before ages ago, three years ago actually, my friend Kate did an interview for one of the local papers with Christian and he rang her up the day after and asked if she could pull it because he really didn't like how he'd sounded. Kate agreed on the condition that he'd take me on a date – she said I couldn't be trusted to find anyone decent on my own." Ana shook her head like the memory was both amusing and exasperating to her. Grace looked interested and Ana was glad she'd remembered that part of the falsehood, it just seemed to tie everything together a bit better.

"Yeah, we were both just a little uncomfortable, honestly but Ana mentioned she was looking for a job so I invited her to interview for the job as my personal assistant." Grace sighed at her son.

"Only you could end a date with such a lovely young woman and end up offering her a job."

"To be honest, at the time I wanted a job a lot more than a boyfriend, that was pretty much the best way a date could have ended for me." Ana said with a laugh. Grace shook her head like she was just realising Ana was hopeless too. "And I really don't like dates, I always feel so awkward. I needed the time to get to know him and then yeah, like he said, about six months ago something just clicked and we decided to start seeing each other."

"Grace is probably upset about all the times she passed your desk without trying to get you two together. She does like to try and have a hand in our children's love lives." Carrick told her with a grin. Grace shot him a quick glare.

"I'm just invested in them being happy. And you're quite right; if I had any idea I would certainly have tried to help them along their way. I'm just concerned."

"Sure you are, honey. If you'll excuse me, I'll just check on dinner." Carrick said. Ana smiled at him as he left.

"I just thought actually, Ana's got some nice pictures of us together, Mom, much better than the ones taken at that bar if you wanted to see them." Christian promoted. Ana thought he was probably thinking something similar to her, that they had spent a day taking those pictures, might as well get some use out of them.

"Much better." Ana agreed, taking out her phone and finding the album that Kate had arranged before she got up to take it over to Grace. "You can actually see my face in most of these." She clicked on the first picture. "So these are your birthday, right?" Ana prompted Christian to join in. He walked over and stood on the other side of his mother and nodded.

"Yeah, back before we had anyone else to take pictures for us." They'd taken a lot of selfies and pictures each other for the first few events in keeping with the idea that the relationship had been a secret from other people for a while. "These ones are just this picnic we went on in the summer… Then that's Ana's birthday back in September, she'd just told her friend Kate about me and it was the first time she met me so she was a little omnipresent that day…"

"I did ask her to back off a little but she kept claiming that Christian was delighted to meet her."

"She's a lot like Mia, Mom." Christian informed her. Ana personally thought Kate wasn't as bad as Mia at all, she didn't throw the same temper tantrums or use and manipulate people like Mia seemed to but she supposed that wasn't really something she could say to Mia's mother. "Those ones are a hike we took, we got some nice sunset pictures, and then that's Halloween."

"I like your Abba costume, Ana."

"See, I told you people would know who I was!" She said it with genuine triumph almost forgetting that the event hadn't actually happened. "I was supposed to be Red Riding Hood but I didn't like the costume so I changed." Christian rolled his eyes and looked poised to say something when his father came back in and announced dinner was ready. Christian held back in the lounge with Ana.

"I feel like it's going really well." Christian said quietly to her. She nodded in agreement. "They obviously adore you already. Thank you so much for doing this. I know it was a lot to ask you but you're handling yourself so well and I'm really grateful."

"It okay, they're both so lovely. I'm glad I could help you I mean you know I'd…" Ana caught herself. She was about to say 'I'd do anything for you'. She decided not to finish the sentence and let Christian fill in the blank for himself. She was suddenly aware that she'd been worried earlier not because it was just customary to worry but because she was treating this like she was meeting the parents of her actual boyfriend rather than a fake fiancé. She wondered if he felt like that too and recalled all the little looks he's shot her through the evening, not to reassure her but looking genuinely proud liked he really did care what hsi parents thought of her and for the first time she allowed herself to wonder if maybe it wasn't just her getting a little too caught up in all of this…


	13. Chapter 13

Since her early days of school the phrase that had intimidated Ana the most was 'tell me about yourself', or any variation of it. Unfortunately it was a commonplace question, asked often with the best of intentions by teachers or children who didn't realise how much she hated it. She'd never known quite how to find the balance between saying what she was comfortable with revealing about herself and saying enough that whoever had asked was satisfied with her response. She had expected of course that Grace would ask the question of her nightmares at some point during the evening but that didn't stop a tiny part of her from wishing the ground would open and swallow her so she didn't have to reply.

"I grew up in Maine with my step-father. I lived in Arizona for a bit while I was a teenager." Ana managed to keep her voice even enough, as though she was perfectly happy talking about that part of her life. She felt Christian shift a little in his seat, but it was a subject she'd long since learnt to breeze through. "And then when I moved back with my step-father he was in Washington which is where I stayed."

Ana noticed Grace going to say something and then stopping herself and let her eyes flit up to Christian who was shooting his mother a warning look.

"And you live on your own?" Carrick prompted, clearly also picking up on Christian's look to his mother. Ana shook her head.

"Currently with my friend Kate actually." Ana corrected her. "It's nice having someone to talk to, I don't think I'd like living alone very much."

"Have you two thought about when you'll move in together?" Grace asked, looking between her and Christian hopefully. Ana nearly started laughing before she remembered that was something engaged people did. Shit. She hoped her eyes weren't betraying the slight panic rising up in her, the urge to start babbling apologies and spill the truth.

"Honestly, we hadn't discussed it yet." Christian answered for her. She nodded.

"Kate's a little… sensitive, at times. She just broke up with her boyfriend." Better use singular rather than plural to make her sound a little more PG than she actually was. "And to tell you the truth she didn't take the news that I was engaged very well, so we might wait a few months." Blaming Kate for a problem seemed like a nice way around a difficult question; Ana only hoped that Kate never somehow found out she had done so, although actually she'd probably be pleased they were paying her some attention even while she was absent.

"But like I said to you the other day, Mom, we're not rushing to get married so there's no hurry."

"What does your family think about the engagement, Ana?" Carrick asked her. Before meeting them, Ana had though she and Christian were over-prepared, now she realised they were woefully under-prepared. These were standard questions she should have realised they would be asked.

"I haven't actually told my parents yet." It was true at least; she hadn't told her parents she was doing this.

"Did Christian not ask your father for permission?" Grace asked, seeming genuinely interested. Ana actually did laugh at that.

"Trust me, we wouldn't be engaged if he'd asked my father for permission."

"Is he very strict then?"

"Oh no! I'd just hate that, I'd definitely say no if a guy did that. It's a bit sexist, isn't it, assuming that my Dad should have a say in who I get married to? I'm a grown woman; I can make my own decisions." Ana stopped herself there they were probably a slightly more traditional family than she was used to considering how much money they had and she didn't want to insult them – although at the same time she wanted to dispel any notion that she couldn't look after herself. She felt almost sheepish for a while before she saw Grace nodding in approval and breathed what was probably an audible sigh of relief.

"Good for you, Ana." Grace turned to her son when she finished speaking. "Do not let this girl go, Christian." Grace told him warningly as though Ana wasn't there. Ana blushed.

"Don't worry Mom. I wasn't planning to." Christian sounded so genuinely adamant about that fact that once again Ana found herself wondering if their fake relationship was affecting it the same way as it was her. Or maybe she was just buying into the lie in the same way his parents were. Either way, she was looking forward to it being over so they could go back to normal.

Grace got up to clear the table and Ana insisted on giving her a helping hand even though she insisted that she didn't need one.

"Are you two planning an engagement party yet?" Grace asked. Ana shrugged.

"Honestly we hadn't thought about it." The idea of an engagement party made Ana feel slightly nauseous, she'd been to so many of her mother's over the years that in her mind they were comical, meaningless events.

"Well, we'd love if you let us throw you an engagement party, you know." Grace mused as though the idea had just come into her head although Ana, who was trying not to choke on air at the suggestion, suspected she had been planning to ask her for most of the evening. "You could invite your parents and your friends, we'd make it a really lovely evening." Ana was sure she would but the idea was immediately causing panic to build up inside her, mostly because she didn't quite know how to say no to it. Thankfully Christian walked into the room before she could start incoherently babbling.

"Perfect timing, Christian!" Ana exclaimed, hoping that to Grace she sounded excited but Christian would read the urgency in her voice. "Your Mom was just saying how she'd love to throw us an engagement party."

"Really, Mom? That's very kind but you don't have to."

"I know I don't have to, I would like to." Grace insisted. Before Ana knew what was happening Christian was giving her an apologetic look and agreeing to his mother's request. Grace left the room looking delighted to tell her husband and Ana fixed her eyes on Christian immediately.

"Christian, what the hell?" Ana snapped as quietly as possible. At least he had the decency to look a bit sheepish about what he'd done. "Why did you agree to that? We're committed to this now for another whole event!"

"I'm sorry, I really couldn't think of an excuse!"

"You could have just said 'we'll think about it'."

"Sorry, she just sounded so happy about the idea that I didn't want to let her down." Ana felt instantly more sympathetic towards him. This whole thing was to make his Mom happy after all and she couldn't really argue that this would help. "I'll talk to her tomorrow, okay?" Ana wondered if he was trying to make her feel guilty or if it was just an accident. Either way she felt her resolve and annoyance waning as she looked at him.

"No, it's fine, I'd feel bad that we said yes and going back on it. Promise me now this will be the last though, we can't agree to anything else. As it is I'm spending the night here." Ana reminded him.

It wasn't long before Grace was showing them up to the room they would apparently be sharing, and although she was tempted, Ana didn't see any way she could ask for a different room without arousing suspicion. She sifted through her bag for a hairbrush, pulling out all the various items that made her complain it was too heavy before finding it. Among the items was her copy of Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit which she left on the nightstand.

"I'm going to have a shower." Ana said, eyeing the ensuite.

"Here," Christian said before starting to take his shirt off. Ana was distracted watching it for a moment before she realised what he was doing.

"What are you doing?" she asked abruptly.

"Giving it to you so you have something to sleep in." Christian said. Ana felt herself blushing at the obvious and very non-sexual reasoning. He passed it to her as she tried not to stare at his chest. She assumed if she'd be wearing his shirt then he would be very much without one for the entire night. The man looked way too much like a Greek god for that to be anything she would be able to deal with like a normal person. Without saying anything else Ana turned quickly and practically ran into the bathroom, trying to use the shower to wash the mental picture of his shirtless body away.

When she got out, Ana looked at the shirt she'd thrown on the floor before she got in the shower and took at least a minute to wear up the pros and cons of putting it on. Pros – warmth, not leaving the bathroom in her underwear and the memory forever engraved on her brain that she had slept next to Christian Grey wearing his shirt which was, she had to face it, probably the closest thing to being actually romantic with him that she was ever going to get. Con – for someone trying to eradicate the feelings for him that were creeping into her mind more and more with each passing minute, wearing his shirt like a girlfriend would was not going to help. Deciding that despite that, walking out in a bra and panties would make her look like the worst most awkward seductress ever she put it on and tried not to think about how it smelled like him.

Christian was sat on the edge of the double bed reading the book she'd left on the nightstand – still very much without a shirt.

"This is a good book so far. Hope you don't mind me picking it up, I was bored." Christian said as he saw her coming into the room. "I thought it looked like you'd read it a lot."

"I have. I read it first when I was sixteen. The idea that someone had a worse mother than I did was very comforting at the time, now I tend to reread it after she's been to visit. This week's been so crazy though it's just sat in my bag. I suppose that's a good thing, being so busy doing other things that I didn't even remember to be upset that she invaded my life last weekend." She half-smiled at him and she wondered if he knew that he was most of what had kept her mind off her mother. "That's you." She felt compelled to clarify when he stayed silent. "Not just this whole fake relationship stuff but actually being around you so much and being honest with you. I've never been as honest with anyone as I have the last week with you. It means a lot having someone to talk to. I didn't realise how much I needed it." She forced herself to stop talking. He was probably already freaked out by what she was saying.

He stood up very slowly and immediately Ana was poised to apologise, assuming that he was leaving, deciding to blame the three glasses of wine and take back everything before he put his arms around her and she realised he was fine.

She'd only just started to relax when he loosened his hold on her just enough so she could look up at him and smile softly. It crossed her mind that this would be a wonderfully romantic moment if they were in a real relationship. Just as she was about to move away from him she felt his lips softly press against hers and then becoming more urgent when he realised she wasn't going to push him away. She put her arms around him and he put a hand in her hair, and they kissed like they were starving.

"Only I could get into a fake relationship with someone and end up having actually feelings for them." Ana said as they broke apart shaking her head, laughing internally at her own misfortune as she sat on the end of the bed, only then realising exactly what she'd said.

"Well, you and me." Christian said as he sat next to her and took her hand.

"You actually have feelings for me?" Ana couldn't stop herself from asking. Didn't he realise he could have anyone he wanted?

"Did me kissing you not give that away?" he asked with a small smirk. Ana bit her lip, that was probably a bit of a stupid question to have asked, but there was no harm in checking just to be doubly sure, right? She was about to tell him how much better than her he could definitely do when he shook his head. "If you're going to say I can do better – that's bullshit Ana, and you know it." He could definitely read her mind, she was absolutely sure about that now. "You're sweet, and honest, and fucking ridiculous most of the time – and yes, that is a good quality. What you said was really sweet. I'm honoured that you've been able to share so much about yourself with me… Obviously I've cared about you for a long time but I think this whole pretending to be engaged thing acted like a catalyst, for both of us." Ana was about to kiss him again when a thought crossed her mind.

"Oh my god, this is going to make being fake engaged so much more complicated!" Ana laughed softly and tried not to think about how this was going to play out.

"We'll figure it out." Christian assured her.


	14. Chapter 14

Ana had to admit, being cuddled up to Christian in bed was a good trade-off for what had been a very stressful evening. She hoped that she had done well with Grace; that was after all the point of them being fake engaged. She supposed that her offering to throw them an engagement party meant she liked Ana at least enough to want to see her again.

It was difficult for her to remember that Grace was ill now that she was seeing her for real. She wore a scarf on her head but she was so exuberant and bright when she spoke and acted. It was both sad and admirable that she was able to hide how ill she was, Ana wondered how much of that was for her benefit so that she felt comfortable. Already she liked Christian's parents a lot. She felt guilty lying to them but when she saw how happy Christian's mom was it made it worth it – and also without lying about this she might never have realised how she felt about Christian, or he might not have realised how he felt about her or had the courage to make a move.

"What are you thinking about?" Christian asked her after she'd been quiet for a little too long. His fingers were playing softly with her hair, she could just about her the lapping of the water outside when it was silent and she couldn't remember the last time she had felt this peaceful.

"Just how this turned out to be a pretty good night." she replied. "Because you know, your parents were lovely and then on top of that this happened." She gestured to the two of them, as though it might have escaped his notice how they were lying together and then felt a little silly about doing so. He knew what she was like by now though so she didn't feel too embarrassed, he obviously didn't mind or they wouldn't be having this conversation.

"Well, I had to make a move tonight, I was worried you'd make me sleep on the floor otherwise." Ana scoffed and dug her elbow into his ribs. He chuckled and kissed her on the cheek. Ana was about to say something else when a thought crossed her mind and she went a little quiet. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" she assured him quickly, not wanting him to think that she was unhappy at all. "It's just that this is the first time I've ever shared a bed with anyone, I sort of just realised." Ana admitted quietly. She wasn't sure but she thought she felt Christian's arms tighten around her a little when he heard that. Ana wondered immediately if he realised the other implication of that and decided to stay quiet unless he asked.

"You've never slept with anyone, have you Ana?" Christian asked her softly, like it was a question that she didn't have to answer if she didn't want to. She knew staying quiet was a perfectly valid option with him and that he would never push her, but it felt like something she should tell him. She nodded, almost unperceivably at first.

"It just never happened."

"You don't have to explain it, Ana." Christian told her firmly. She smiled to herself; she couldn't remember a single fact about herself that she had told Christian and received a response anything other than unabashed understanding. There was never any judgement with him.

They fell asleep after talking quietly to each other for a while longer, still tangled together happily.

Ana woke first in the morning. She thought Christian must have been awake through the night because her book was on his nightstand and not hers which suggested he'd woken up and started reading it. She wanted to lie there and enjoy it for a while but the craving for a warm drink overtook her; she couldn't be awake for more than a few minutes before she needed one, it was just part of her routine now.

When Ana got up it was still early, the sun barely risen in the sky. She disentangled herself a little reluctantly from Christian and found herself walking down to the kitchen, hoping that Grace wouldn't mind her putting the kettle on so she could make tea, or coffee if they didn't have any. Ana was delighted that they had both an electric kettle and her favourite English Breakfast tea. She looked out of the window as it was boiling and saw the water outside… They had a boathouse and a long wooden jetty at the end of the garden which officially made this the fanciest house she had ever been in. Kate's parents had a boat as far as she remembered but it did not reside at the bottom of their garden just ready to go out on the water whenever the fancy took them. Ana poured herself a cup of tea and started drinking it still standing, staring out of the window at the pretty scene outside.

"I thought I felt you getting up." Christian said as he came into the room, quietly in a clear bid not to startle her by creeping up on her. She smiled at him and was about to offer to make him a coffee when his arms were around her and he was kissing her softly. He rested his forehead against hers and kept his arms around her waist as he smiled. "I can't get over how you look in my shirt."

"It's nice. I think I might keep it." Ana teased him after pecking him on the lips again. She'd always worried that this kind of affection in a relationship might feel unnatural to her but she was completely comfortable with him. Holy shit, had she just thought of this thing as a relationship? There was a thought she definitely shouldn't voice out loud. "Is this a relationship?" she blurted out immediately before feeling like she wanted to slam her head as hard as possible against the kitchen counter. Wow, A plus effort for not saying something she'd just told herself not to say.

"Would you like it to be?" Christian asked her, seeming to take her asking completely in his stride. He'd probably realised she was going to ask something awkward at some point.

"I think so?" Ana said tentatively. He pushed her hair back from her face and tilted her chin up so she was looking at him. He had such pretty eyes she was completely distracted for a moment and forgot what they were talking about.

"Would you like to go on a proper date this evening and we'll figure it out then?" he asked. She nodded eagerly.

"Definitely." She leant up to kiss him again which was a good moment to pick because after a few seconds she heard a slight cough and broke away from him like a guilty teenager to see Grace standing behind them.

"Sorry Mom, we didn't think anyone else was up." Christian said apologetically. Ana couldn't see herself but she knew she was bright red. Grace smiled understandingly.

"Don't worry, I was your age once too." Grace said with a wave of her hand. Ana bit her lip and tried not to giggle as she saw Christian out of the corner of her eye looking slightly horrified. She shared that expression once she realised she was stood in front of Grace just wearing his shirt and her underwear and instinctively tried to pull the shirt down a little so it covered more of her skin.

"Would you like me to get you a drink?" Christian offered slightly awkwardly. Her awkwardness was obviously rubbing off on him. Poor Christian.

"Black coffee with one sugar, thank you darling."

"I might go and get dressed…" Ana said, quickly finishing the rest of her cup of tea and escaping before Grace could assure her that being down there barely dressed was fine. At least if Grace had any doubts about the validity of their relationship last night – which she hadn't seemed to, to be honest – then they would have dissipated this morning. Ana put on her dress from the night before. She'd never had to wear the same outfit home after spending the night with a man, although she was well aware of the practice because Kate did it so often.

Grace insisted on them eating breakfast with her and showing Ana around her garden. It was nearly eleven by the time she and Christian actually managed to leave.

"I can't believe she walked in on us in the kitchen!" Ana exclaimed as they drove away, something she'd been holding in the entire morning. "I thought I was going to die of embarrassment! I was literally just wearing your shirt. I couldn't have been showing more skin if I tried." Christian laughed and she put her head in her hands as she relived it.

"I'm sorry. I didn't hear her at all!" Christian said, trying to speak through laughing.

"At least there can be no doubt now that we're really a couple."

"She didn't doubt that before, Ana. After last night she and Dad were totally convinced, you don't need to keep worrying. They aren't going to find out." The rest of the journey was fairly quiet; being a good person she let Christian choose the music but that turned out to be a mistake, she couldn't have told anyone who asked the names of any of the songs that he played and they were all terrible.

"I bet Kate's already up." Ana said as they pulled up to her apartment. "She's such a gossip, she'll be dying to know what happened last night and why we ended up staying over. I didn't tell her why when I texted, just that I wouldn't be back until this morning."

"Are you going to tell her about tonight?"

"Of course. I need someone to help me look pretty for our first official date." They both grinned widely when she said that.

"You don't need her help, Ana, you always look pretty." Ana smiled at his perfect response and kissed him before she got out of the car. "I'll pick you up at seven. Enjoy your day." As usual, he watched to make sure she got into her building before he drove away. Once she knew he was gone Ana bounded up the stairs and burst into their apartment.

"Kate!" Ana shouted loudly as she entered their apartment. Kate was already sat at the kitchen counter looking through a magazine and she nearly fell off the stool she was perched on when Ana yelled at her. "Sorry! I have exciting news that you're just going to die when you hear." Kate looked worried for a moment before she saw the grin on Ana's face.

"Spill immediately!" Kate demanded. Ana's smile got even wider. She loved finally being the friend with some decent gossip about a man, she'd never done it before.

"Okay so last night obviously I met Christian's parents and it went really well and they loved me – they're throwing an engagement party pretty soon actually, which I'll tell you all about later – but yeah, they asked us to stay and we couldn't really say no so Christian and I ended up sharing a room and I ended up blurting out all this stuff about how important he was to me and he I felt like I could really open up to him and he ended up kissing me and we're going on a date tonight so we can figure out where we stand relationship-wise!" Ana barely took a breath the whole time she was speaking, she was just ridiculously excited about the whole thing and far too eager to share it with her best friend to worry about silly things like the intake of oxygen.

"Oh. My. GOD!" Kate screamed the last word and leapt up so she could give Ana an excited hug. "I told you this was going to happen! I really am the best friend in a romcom!"

"Kate I honestly can't believe it, the last few days I've been so down because I was starting to feel all this stuff for him and it's so crazy that he feels the same, I mean, he's way out of my league, he's a gorgeous billionaire with his own business and I'm a frumpy little personal assistant."

"First of all, you're not frumpy anymore because now you have nice clothes that I picked for you and you use the shampoo that makes your hair puff up less, and secondly, you're a catch! You're sweet and funny and he's as lucky to have you as you are to have him. And you two are perfect together, you're already really close which is exactly what you need and he obviously thinks the world of you. Don't sell yourself short, just be happy this is happening and enjoy it." Kate told her firmly. Ana had to admit that when Kate was having a rare moment of not being completely self-absorbed, she actually managed to give some damn good advice. "Now, are you going to do away with all these insecurities and let me pick you an outfit? Promise not to make you look like a hooker?"

"I'm not going out for over eight hours!" Ana laughed. She liked that Kate was so exuberant about her date, it made Ana even more excited than she already was.

"Well then we better hurry!" Kate exclaimed, dragging Ana into her bedroom.


	15. Chapter 15

It was only after Christian had dropped Ana at her apartment that he really had time to think about what had happened the night before. He wasn't sure where the courage to kiss her had come from – the glasses of wine he'd drunk with dinner probably had something to do with it – and he was still trying to mentally make sense of the fact she hadn't pushed him away disgusted or turned around that morning and said it was a terrible mistake. Incredibly, she had seemed as happy as him with the situation. He entered his apartment in a better mood than he'd been in for as long as he could remember.

Christian had barely got been home for ten minutes before his phone was ringing. He looked at it just in case it was Ana calling him – his stomach lurched as he wondered if she might want to cancel going out tonight and just not have been able to tell him in person. He was both relieved and irritated when he saw Mia's name flash up. Christian decided to ignore it, but of course Mia, who if she wanted to make her presence known was always absolutely determined to do it in the most irritating way possible, decided to text him as well.

Mia 11:02: PICK UP

Mia 11:02: NOW CHIRSTIAN

Mia 11:03: OMG I KNOW UR NOT WORKING

Mia knew that he couldn't stand abbreviations or incorrect grammar in texts, she'd had a great time teasing him after he'd sent her a semi-colon in a text ('I don't care if it's grammatically correct, Christian, they're for winky faces and nothing else!') so she clearly expected him to respond to that.

Christian 11:04: What is it?

Mia 11:04: MOM LIED TO ME AND ELLIOT

Mia 11:05: TOLD US U AND ANA WERE GOING 2NITE

Mia 11:05: I KNOW U WENT YESTERDAY I HAVE KATE ON SNAPCHAT

Christian 11:06: What does that have to do with anything? Please do not use caps lock when you reply, I feel like I can hear you screaming.

Mia 11:07: She snapped she was bored I asked why she said Ana was out with u

Christian 11:08: Mom wanted to meet Ana without you and Elliot being there. She probably also wants to see you both on a night she won't be distracted by other things.

Mia 11:08: So unfair! Take me 2 lunch?

Christian 11:11: Fine, be ready for me at 12:45, I'm not waiting.

Mia 11:12: C u then!

Christian figured he could use this lunch as a mini intervention where he spoke to her in a forced casual manner about her trying to be slightly less immature in future. He felt optimistic about her listening, he thought there was definitely a part of her that felt bad about the situation she had put him into – even if it was tiny. Christian still hadn't forgiven her for that, whether or not something good was potentially coming out of it in the form of a relationship between him and Ana. There were better circumstances for that to have happened under, her interference despite how he was sure she would try to spin it when she found out about the two of them, was not what had pushed them. He was sure that eventually they would have reached this point. The fake relationship was more of a catalyst which had just propelled them towards each other slightly faster.

For once, Mia actually was on time, not one her phone, and in a seemingly good mood which were three things that rarely coincided with his sister. She also dutifully waited until they were sat down and she'd politely asked him how work had been that week before she started complaining, which was also very rare for her.

"I cannot believe mom was so sneaky!" Mia huffed as she shook her head. "And people wonder where I get it from." Christian didn't mention that his mother usually acted with good intentions that Mia clearly lacked; he knew his sister wasn't above starting a fight in a public place and wanted to avoid that if it was possible. "Are you coming tonight?" She sounded hopeful and then looked slightly dejected when he shook his head.

"She wants to spend time with you and Elliot."

"What was the point of me orchestrating the whole you and Ana lie if it's not even going to be there to distract mom?" Christian sighed. "Did she like Ana? Maybe I can just talk to mom about her."

"She liked her a lot." Christian admitted. "Just talk to mom like a normal person, why does everything have to be so calculated with you?" Mia looked down like his comments were making her feel guilty. "You don't have to lie and scheme, we're your family All of us care about you. You don't need to manipulate us into doing that."

"I thought this was going to be a break up with your boyfriend intervention, not this." Mia complained.

"Well it isn't, but since you've brought the subject up, you do need to break up with your boyfriend." Mia scowled at his comment; he was poised to say more when his phone buzzed and he checked it.

Ana 13:13: How fancy are we going tonight? Kate says she needs some indication, she's decided to waste her day (and mine) playing dress up.

Christian 13:14: Just wear whatever you like (or more correctly, whatever Kate likes) you look beautiful in everything.

Ana 13:14: You're sweet (but Kate says that's unhelpful.)

"Why are you smiling at your phone?" Mia asked abruptly. He hadn't even realised he was doing it and he could tell that she would read the guilt that immediately washed over his face. "Oh my god, you're dating someone, aren't you?" Mia looked gleeful and so sure that she had worked out what was happening. Christian sighed at the ease with which she was able to read him. For someone exceptionally self-involved, Mia was impressively perceptive at times, and she'd always been able to read him like a book, even after years of mastering controlling his emotions so, at a time like this, when they were so clearly given to her, Christian knew Mia would be having a field day.

"No, I'm not dating anyone…" Christian attempted to lie to her but he knew it was futile.

"It's so pointless lying to me, Christian, you've never been able to fool me." Christian forced himself not to respond and Mia was suspiciously silent for a moment before she made a grab for his phone. Despite his best efforts it was soon in her clutches and he glared at her. "Now, I don't know your passcode but I will guess it a million times and lock you out of your phone unless you tell me. Wouldn't want your girlfriend to think you're ignoring her, would you?" It buzzed again and Mia made a faux concerned face. Christian told himself Ana wouldn't take it personally if he didn't reply but his assurance of that only lasted about three seconds before his resolve waivered.

"Fine, fuck, I don't have a girlfriend, I'm just going on a date tonight." Christian said, trying to minimise it. Mia squealed in delight. He wanted to tell her to calm down but honestly, that was a little bit how he felt about the whole situation too.

"Who with?"

"You don't know her."

"Such a liar!" Mia exclaimed, waving his phone to remind him she had it.

"I swear to god, Mia, you haven't matured a fucking day since you turned seven." Mia pouted at the comment but didn't seem to take it too personally. It was nothing he hadn't said before, and usually a lot angrier. "Fucking fine, it's Ana, happy now?" Mia looked delighted and poised to speak before he held a hand up to her. "And no, before you ask, this does not contribute in any way to you being absolved of blame for getting me into a situation where I've had to lie to mom. I still don't like it, even if something good is coming out of it." Mia handed his phone back, clearly satisfied with the information she had received from him. A quick check showed it wasn't even Ana who'd sent him another message, just someone dull from the office which made him frown.

"So it has actually happened since the lie started?" Mia asked, sounding genuinely curious now instead of gleeful on her own behalf.

"I'm not going to talk to you about my dating life, Mia, it's private. You've squeezed enough information out of me already."

"I talk to you about mine, it's not fair!" Mia's combined reality of being the youngest child in a family of three plus the mentality she somehow had of an only child was a terrible combination. Christian gave her a look as if to say that kind of comment was exactly what he was talking about when he complained about her maturity level and too her credit Mia had the sensibility to look at least a little embarrassed. "Okay, sorry, stop giving me that look. I mean, I'm always really open and honest with you about this area of my life, I'd appreciate the same from you."

"See, you do have the ability to take an argument and phrase it like an adult. I'm proud of you." Christian was being deliberately patronising and he could see Mia struggle to take the moral high ground and not respond childishly. "And that's your decision to share that aspect of your life with me, but that comes from a place of needing advice, you have to admit, rather than just wanting to tell me. You know I like to be private, it's not fair to expect me to talk about this, especially when it might not even come to anything. I might take her out tonight and she could decide I'm nice as a friend but not to date and call the whole thing off before it even starts." Mia rolled her eyes.

"Of course she won't, I've seen you two with each other. You're clearly crazy about each other, it's so obvious. In fact, for all you know I made up this whole lie so you two could get together!"

"No you didn't."

"No, I didn't, but it would have been great if I had, and you can't stop me from saying that in the future."

"Well, just be careful tonight that you don't say anything about it to mom."

"You know I can keep secrets if I have to. Trust me, I won't spill anything." On this, Christian actually did trust Mia. Deception in its many forms was one of her talents, if it could really be called a talent. It was Elliot he was more worried about, he wasn't exactly the brightest button in the box at the best of times. "Don't worry, if Elliot looks like he's about to be a moron and say anything I'll cause some drama and make sure it doesn't happen." Mia said as though she was reading his mind.

"You'd better, if this whole thing blows up in our faces you'll be taking all the blame for it. If mom wants to never speak to one of us again it's not going to be me." Christian told her warningly.

"It won't! Nobody's going to tell her and now you and Ana are actually a thing there's no way she'll even be suspicious because you'll definitely be acting like a couple! And you have to admit, even if you were annoyed at first, I bet she was really happy last night when you were there with Ana."

"She was." Christian admitted, slightly irritated about that. It was hard to prove to Mia that she actually had done something wrong when everything seemed to be going so well. There was a part of him that wished his mother hadn't liked Ana, just to prove a point to Mia that she couldn't use other people as chess pieces and keep getting away with it.

"Look, I'm sorry I got you into this. I honestly am." It was one of the first times Christian had ever heard Mia apologise and known that she meant it. Her voice was genuine and her eyes were cast slightly down, not quite able to meet his gaze. "I know it was wrong, and I was really selfish and I am sorry. I'm glad you and Ana might be together because then at least you can't completely hate me for making you do this, but I know I need to make it up to yo properly. I promise I will."

"I fully believe that you intend to do that, Mia." Christian assured her. She gave a little relieved half smile. "But whether or not you actually manage to is a separate issue." he added, just so she didn't get too complacent. "Now, let's talk about something else. What are you doing at the moment?"

Mia launched into a lengthy speech about how the photoshoot from the other day had inspired her to actually take up photography as a hobby. He could see that for once, the more serious discussion they'd had wasn't immediately discarded from her mind and the cogs of her brain were still mulling it over as she spoke and tried to distract herself. It was the first time he'd seen Mia regret something she'd done and, although she should know not to do things like that in the first place, he saw her remorse as a positive sign for the future.

"Good luck tonight!" Mia exclaimed as she hopped out of the car when Christian dropped her off after lunch. "Have a good time!"

"Say hi to mom for me." Christian said. Mia waved to him from the street as he drove away. She had many faults but her unwavering enthusiasm was not one of them.

He spent most of the afternoon worrying about his date with Ana later. He tried to remind himself that they'd spent a lot of time together before and this was nothing new, but somehow it felt completely different. There was now something to lose if he said or did something she didn't like. This had already gone far enough that it might be difficult if things didn't work out for them to return to being friends and the thought of losing her, the only person he could actually talk to, weighed heavily on his mind. Just as he was thinking about it, he received a message from her.

Ana 16:47: I'm actually nervous about tonight… Is that crazy?

Christian 16:48: I was just thinking the same thing.

Ana 16:48: We're both crazy then?

Christian 16:59: Apparently so.

Ana 16: 50: Feel like I should make it clear now I really like you.

Ana 16:50: That was such a dumb way to put that.

Ana 16:50: But also true.

Christian: 16:51: I really like you too.

Ana 16:52: I like that we're both so ineloquent when we're nervous.

Christian 16:53: I like that 'ineloquent' is a word you're happy to include in a text.

Ana 16:54: I like that you took the time to put it in brackets when you quoted it.

Christian 16:54: Correct grammar in texts is very important.

Ana 16:55: So true…

Ana 16:55: Have to go Kate's brandishing some torture device for my hair, see you later!

Christian 16:56: Enjoy. Don't be nervous.

Ana 16:56: Same to you x

* * *

 **14th March - Hi everyone! Updates are going to start coming again in a couple of weeks. I burnt out a lot of the ideas I had by writing this quickly so I spent a while thinking where this was going and once that was finalised I went back to University and so I've been really overwhelmed with my job and studying. I hope you can all forgive me for how long it's been! I don't want you to think this story's been abandoned because it definitely hasn't!**

 **Love, Esme x**


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